Warriors: Blood and Loyalty
by Mistywater55
Summary: What if Bluestar had given Mosskit to a kittypet? What if Scourge had met Rusty before he went to the forest? What if the three joined ThunderClan? would they be loyal warriors or walk another path? (Bluestar's Prophecy/Cats of Clan's version of Mosskit { a gray and white she-cat with blue eyes} Explanation for choosing this version found in Ch.9)
1. Chapter 1

Okay so we all know that firestar and scourge are half-brothers. *SPOILER* Jake from Bluestar's prophecy is their father*END OF SPOILER* I have always wondered how the first series would be different had they both known they were half-brothers and how the story would be different if they had entered the forest together. I had a soft spot for Mosskit and decided to add her into the story. Oh I know there are a few people who say don't put the allegiances from the books in the story because most people know them. I know them I just like to have it there as a reference and I'm adding characters who will appear either by name or description. Not every cat from each clan will be put in the allegiances. The cats with the *asterisk* around their name are warriors I came up with.

Disclaimer: I don't own warriors if I did I would have changed quite a few things in the series. I don't own any of the characters from the series.

THUNDERCLAN

Leader: Bluestar- blue-gray she-cat, tinged with silver around the muzzle

Deputy: Redtail- small tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive ginger tail

Apprentice, Dustpaw

Medicine Cat: Spottedleaf- beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat with a distinctive dappled coat.

Warriors: Lionheart- magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur like a lion's mane

Apprentice, Graypaw

Tigerclaw- big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws

Apprentice, Ravenpaw

Whitestorm - big white tom

Apprentice, Sandpaw

Darkstripe - sleek black and gray tabby tom

Longtail- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes

Runningwind- swift light brown tabby tom

Willowpelt- very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Mousefur- small dusky brown she-cat

Scourgeclaw- small black tom with one white paw, ice blue eyes

Mossflower - white she-cat with gray patches, bright blue eyes

*Goldenclaw*- golden brown tabby tom

Apprentices: Dustpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Graypaw- long-haired gray tom

Ravenpaw- small skinny black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest, and white-tipped tail

Sandpaw- pale ginger she-cat

Firepaw- handsome ginger tom

Queens: Frostfur- beautiful white coat and blue eyes

Brindleface - pretty tabby

Goldenflower - pale ginger coat

Speckletail - pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen

Elders: Halftail - big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear- gray tom with very small ears. The oldest cat in ThunderClan

Patchpelt- small black-and-white tom

One-eye- pale gray she-cat, The oldest she-cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail- once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat

SHADOWCLAN

Leader: Brokenstar - long-haired dark brown tabby

Deputy: Blackfoot- large white tom with huge jet-black paws

Medicine cat: Runningnose- small gray and white tom

Warriors: Stumpytail- brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Brownpaw

Boulder- silver tabby tom

Apprentice, Wetpaw

Clawface- battle-scarred brown tom

Apprentice, Littlepaw

Nightpelt- black tom

*Stonetail*- light gray tom black tail

*Amberpelt*- ginger she-cat

Apprentice, Pinepaw

Apprentices: Pinepaw- gray and white she-cat

Queens: Dawncloud - small tabby

Brightflower- black and white she-cat

Elders: Ashfur- thin gray tom

WINDCLAN

Leader: Tallstar- a black and white tom with a very long tail

RIVERCLAN

Leader: Crookedstar- a huge light-colored tabby tom with a twisted jaw

Deputy: Oakheart- a reddish brown tom

Warriors: Leopardfur- unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

Blackclaw- smoky black tom

Stonefur- large, broad-shouldered gray tom with amber eyes and battle-scarred ears

*Icestream*- gray and white she-cat

Apprentice, Troutpaw

*Pebblestorm*- mottled dark gray tom

Apprentice, Shellpaw

Apprentices: *Troutpaw*- light gray tom with fluffy tail

*Shellpaw*- mottled light gray tom

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS

Yellowfang- old dark gray she-cat with a broad flattened face.

Smudge- plump, friendly black and white kitten who lives in a house at the edge of the forest

Barley- black and white tom who lives on farm close to the forest.

**Prologue**

A blue-gray she-cat moved steadily through the snow covered forest. A tiny bundle of gray and white fur hung limply from her jaws. The steady breathing from the bundle was the only sign of life. The young kit had been very quiet since they had begun their journey. 'just a little further' thought the she-cat. She picked up her pace feeling the temperature starting to drop a bit more. As she passed a tree with a hollow opening she heard a voice call out to her

"Hey in here" as gentle but firm voice called. The gray she-cat looked at the opening under the roots and crawled under. A pretty brown and cream marbled tabby she-cat sat in a nest made of moss and feathers. The gray she-cat quickly put her bundle into the nest right next to the pretty she-cat who wrapped her body around the tiny kit warming it up. The gray she-cat looked a little confused at the other she-cat.

"Your not planning to stay here are you?" she asked curiously.

"No I decided to wait in here since it was warm and wanted to give this little one some time to warm up before I take her home." The gray she-cat nodded in acceptance of the answer. it would be good to give the kit a rest.

"Thank you again, I didn't think she would survive the journey with her siblings but I know she has a fighting chance with you" The gray she-cat meowed showing her gratefulness in her gaze.

"You don't need to worry about her she will be a fighter not a soft weakling like the others, she'll defend what ever territory she is given." meowed the pretty she-cat.

"I should go, I must take her siblings to her father" the gray she-cat touched her nose to the soft fur of her daughter "Goodbye my darling" she murmured before pulling a way. She padded toward the opening stopping to look over her shoulder one last time.

"Goodbye Kana take care of her" meowed the gray she-cat before bounding off into the cold leaf-bare night.

"Goodbye Bluefur I promise I will make her a strong cat" called Kana from the opening. She looked down at the small bundle of fur snuggled against her belly and felt a surge of affection.

"Don't worry Mosskit you'll be at your new home soon and I will make sure you don't forget your heritage." she purred.

* * *

Two cats ran swiftly side by side through the maze of buildings and alleyways. Their hearts are beating rapidly. One of them was a ginger tom and the other was brown and white tabby she-cat. They hear the distinctive yowl of a tom in the distance.

"There they are let's get them before they get a way" yowled a large brown tabby tom. Behind him two other large toms came running.

"Quickly, find a safe place to hide" meowed the ginger tom.

"No I won't leave you" mewed the she-cat.

"I will not risk your life and our unborn kits, you need to leave this place, I will hold them off" meowed the tom.

"But…"

"No, go now they are gaining on us" tom said

"I love you" whispered the she-cat as she took off leaving the tom standing in the alley waiting for the attackers.

"Get out of our way you ginger fool you know the law" yowled the tabby tom

"No, she has done nothing wrong, and I won't let you hurt our kits" hissed the ginger tom

"So it was you Tiger who defied our new leader and stole his mate" growled the tabby.

"So what if I did, she didn't want to be his mate." the ginger tom growled as he blocked a large white tom from passing him. A gray tabby tom came up on the left side of the white tom and took a swipe at Tiger. Tiger move out of the way of the swipe and tackled the white tom to the ground, delivering a fierce bite in the white tom's neck. The white tom went limp in his jaws. The brown tabby jumps him from behind and sinks his claws into his hind legs. Tiger hisses from the pain. The gray tom moves to deliver a bite to the back of Tiger's neck. Tiger slashes The gray tabby's nose open. Tiger spins around to slash the ear on the brown tabby open. He is bowled over by the gray tom that pinned him down and begins to rake his claws down Tiger's exposed belly. The brown tabby tom too begins to rake his claws down Tiger's belly.

"I think we have done enough, let's go back to the leader." meowed the brown tabby

"What about Frost and that other problem we are supposed to deal with?" asked the gray tabby.

"Frost is of no use to us now, and that she- cat is long gone by now. We'll just tell our leader that we dealt with her and this traitor." Hissed the brown tabby "I doubt we'll be seeing her again." The brown tabby took off back down the alley with the gray tabby on his heels. Tiger lay in the alley slowly dying his wounds were very deep. Moments later he hears a voice that he never expected to hear again.

"Tiger, oh Tiger I'm so sorry this is all my fault." yowled the tortoiseshell she- cat.

"R-Rose do not b-blame yourself, you are my closest friend and mate I am glad to have given my life for you and our kits." wheezed Tiger. "Rose you need to find a safe place for our kits, even if it means becoming a kittypet."

"Yes of course I will" mewled Rose

"I have a favor to ask you. If you see Quince tell her I love her. Tell her Jake loves her."

(AN: Okay if your confused I will try to unconfused you. Since it doesn't really explain what happen to Jake in "Rise of Scourge" and I haven't read all of "Bluestar's Prophecy." I decided it would be interesting if he became a rogue apart of a colony and took a rogue name. This little detail will be explained later. MUCH LATER. Sorry for those of you who believe that Firestar and Scourge's father was Pinestar but it was confirmed by the Erin's in a wands and world's chat that Jake is their father. Any way if you haven't guessed Rose is suppose to be Firestar's mother. Still no clue who Firestar's mother really is or could be. Kana may or may not appear in this story but she will be mentioned also if you want to see what she looks like type up 'Seal Mink Marble Bengal'

It was brought to my attention that Fireheart's mother is a brown and white tabby she-cat named Nutmeg, so I decided to revise that part of the prologue and part of the first chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A small black tom with a white paw walks down a alleyway. He was Scourge, a young and feared cat of the streets, despite his small size. He was slowly making a name for himself. He was on his way to one of his secret food sources. A few housefolk liked to put out fresh meat for rogue cats in the area to eat and since he was the only one in his group to know about the meat meant that he didn't have to share. As he approached the food dish on the ground, he didn't see a man coming up behind him with a cage until he was caught.

He arrived at a house, he wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. Though he didn't let it show, he was terrified and nervous. He was remembering how his siblings said that housefolk would drown him because he was a unwanted cat. He hid in the back of his cage watching the door of the cage as it was opened. The familiar sight of furniture and lush carpet relaxed him slightly, though he didn't move a muscle.

"Hi, what's your name?" a small voice meowed quietly.

"Careful Rusty we don't know this kittypet" a stronger voice mewled.

Scourge moved forward in the cage and looked out the opening. There stood a kitten about four moons old peeking into the cage. The kitten had a fiery ginger coat and bright green eyes, beside the kitten stood a she-cat with a white and gray pelt.

"My name is Rusty." mewed the kitten. "Are you going to be living with us now?" asked Rusty with a friendly flick of his ear.

Scourge narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Rusty. This was a harmless kit that was curious as to why there was another cat in its home. Scourge himself was wondering why those housefolk brought him here. The she-cat however looked as though she could give him a few bad blows if he crossed her. He decided to leave his cage since Rusty's housefolk hadn't done anything to harm him and Rusty and the she-cat didn't act like a threat to Scourge. He also decided to answer Rusty since he didn't think it was a good idea to harm the kitten.

"My name is Scourge, I am a rogue that lives on the streets. Not a kittypet." meowed Scourge in a cool voice. "I don't know why I am here."

"Scourge?" asked Rusty. "That's an interesting name."

"It is one I am fond of" answered Scourge. He glanced over at the she-cat beside Rusty. "May I ask what your name is?"

The she-cat looked curiously at Scourge.

"Moss is my name." meowed the she-cat. Scourge wondered whether or not Moss was a rogue cat since she didn't act like most kittypets.

"Do you have any siblings Scourge?" asked Rusty curiously. "I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers, their names are: Princess, Heather, Patch and Hazel. 'Why is this kitten asking me so many annoying questions?' Scourge wondered as he gazed at the young tom. 'I guess there is no harm in humoring this little fur ball till I find a way out of here.'

" I have two siblings, a brother and sister." grumbled Scourge as he thought of his horrid siblings. Rusty laid down in front of Scourge stretching out his long body. A thought suddenly came to Scourge that disturbed him slightly.

"Your siblings aren't here are they?" asked Scourge shivering slightly at the thought of having to deal with more kittens. Moss twitched her whiskers in amusement.

"No they have their own homes," meowed Rusty. "I left my mother's home two moons ago I miss her and my siblings, but I have Moss and my friend Smudge to keep me company."

"Smudge?" Scourge inwardly groaned in exasperation.

"Yeah he lives next door I always play with him when I want to play." Rusty mewled rolling playfully onto his back. Scourge nodded, feeling slightly better that this Smudge kitten wasn't living with Rusty. "Hey Scourge, do you ever miss your mother?"

"Rusty you shouldn't bother Scourge" meowed Moss giving Rusty a sharp stare. Scourge surprised himself by answering.

"Sometimes." mumbled Scourge. 'why am I telling him this? he doesn't need to know anything.' Scourge inwardly hissed at himself.

"What about your father did you know him?" asked Rusty

"No, the only thing I know about my father is that he was a big ginger tom." replied Scourge slightly annoyed by Rusty's persistent questioning.

"Really? I never met my father either but my mother told me he was a large ginger tom named who she called Tiger," Rusty mewed " But mother says his name wasn't always Tiger it use to be Jake."

"Fascinating" Scourge mewled sarcastically. Moss gave Scourge a hard stare. Not hearing Scourge's sarcasm Rusty continued.

"Yeah, my mother also said that I also have half siblings since my father had kits with a she-cat named Quince" meowed Rusty. Scourge's heart nearly stopped. He looked at the ginger kitten laying in front of him. 'Mother said that our father was a large ginger tom that liked to go into the forest. Could he be the same cat?' Scourge wonder. 'If this is true that would make this little fur ball my brother' Scourge blinked slowly.

It had been nearly a quarter of a moon since Scourge had been brought to Moss and Rusty's home and it seemed as though his housefolk were intent on keeping him around, only letting out Rusty and Moss, not himself. Scourge didn't mind the kittypet food that much but he missed the flesh of his prey. He still hadn't told Rusty about his belief of them being brothers and decided to keep it to himself for now. Scourge was currently perched on a windowsill ledge staring out into the yard watching young Rusty and his friend Smudge playing in the yard. Moss was sleeping peacefully in the basket they all shared. Scourge thought about his conversation with Rusty. Rusty always spoke good about his siblings and mother and Scourge couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like had he been born in Rusty's litter rather than his own. 'Maybe they would have excepted me better' Scourge thought to himself. Moments later he was broken from his thoughts by a fiery ginger ball of fur barreling into his side.

"Hi Scourge what are you doing?" asked Rusty.

"I was deep in thought until you assaulted my side." growled Scourge. Unfazed by Scourge's temper Rusty settles down beside Scourge and begins to give himself a wash. Moss watched them from the basket having been awaken from her nap. When Rusty was finished with his wash he glanced at out of the corner of his eye at Scourge. Scourge was calmly gazing out the window looking into the garden.

"Scourge, how come you don't talk about your siblings or mother?" asked Rusty. Without turning from the window, Scourge icily mewed out his response.

"Because, I have nothing to say about them," Scourge growled.

"What do you mean, didn't you like your siblings?" Rusty asked. Scourge let out hiss laced in venom and whipped his head around to glare icily at Rusty, who flinched at the sharp stare.

"No I despised my siblings, all I wanted was to play with them and they never let me because I was too small." spat Scourge. Moss jumped to her feet quickly fixing her intense blue eyes at Scourge.

"Don't talk to Rusty like that he didn't know that you don't have a good relationship with your siblings, he's just a kit" she growled

"I'm sorry." mewled Rusty. His ears were lying flat against his skull. His body was in a low crouch and his tail twitched nervously as his fearful wide eyes gazed at Scourge. Scourge sniffed and turned his gaze back out the window. Rusty slowly turned around and prepared to jump off the ledge.

"My mother however wasn't mean to me; she tried to get my brother and sister to play with me." Scourge said softly. Rusty paused and looked at Scourge. Rusty looked at Scourge's reflection in the glass and saw that his expression had softened as he thought of his mother. "Rusty, tell me about your mother." Scourge said. 'I may as well humor this kitten, he won't stop pestering me until I do' thought Scourge. Moss jumped up onto the window sill to sit beside Rusty keeping a close eye on Scourge.

"Well she told me that she used to be a part of a large group of cats that live without the care of housefolk and fight and hunt for their own food to survive." meowed Rusty. Scourge's ears perked in interest. 'She was a rogue? Had she been a part of my group of cats without me knowing? Or was she a clan cat?' pondered Scourge.

"She wasn't born a housecat?" Scourge asked. Trying not to sound too interested.

"No she wasn't, she said she was the daughter of their second in command and that my father had been the leader of them." Rusty said as he puffed out his chest with pride. 'The leader of the group!' Scourge thought. 'Then she probably wasn't a part of my group of cats, does that mean there is another group of cats that I don't know about?'

"Why did she leave?" Scourge asked with a thoughtful expression.

"She told us that she didn't want us to grow up that way." mewed Rusty "She said it was hard living that way and she wanted us to be well fed and cared for. So she changed her name and lived as a kittypet." Scourge stared at Rusty for a moment 'I could train him, since he isn't fully a kittypet' thought Scourge. 'If I do he could be of great use to me.' He looked curiously at Moss she reminded him of someone but he couldn't figure out who.

"What about you Moss?" asked Scourge curiously. 'She seems pretty tough if she was a part of my group of cats she would probably be a guard.' Moss looked thoughtfully at him before answering.

"I was born in the forest… well at least that is what my foster mother told me." She meowed. Scourge's eyes widened in shock.

"You were born in the forest? how did you get here then?" asked Scourge more interested in Moss than he had ever been.

"My real mother gave me to my foster mother during a harsh leaf-bare because she was afraid that I wouldn't survive it." meowed Moss. "My foster mother Kana told me she was a Clan cat." This caught Scourge's attention

"You were a part of a Clan?" he asked suspiciously

"I was born to one, but my mother gave me up to save my life" she answered. "My foster mother told me a bit about her and clan life."

"Was Kana a Clan cat also?" asked Rusty curiously

"No she is a kittypet who feels that if a cat couldn't defend their territory they don't deserve to have one." 'Sounds like my kind of cat' thought Scourge

"How did she know about clan cats then?" Scourge meowed suspiciously.

"Her mate and the father of her son Talon use to be the leader of one. He said that his name was Pinestar but changed it to Pine after he left his Clan." Scourge's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Her mate was a leader? What happen to him?" asked Rusty with his eyes as wide as Scourge.

"He died I'm sad to say, I never really got to know him but he knew my mother and that was enough for me." Moss meowed gently. Scourge was thinking of just how useful Moss would be to his group cats. While she had been talking, Scourge was taking in her firm muscles and sleek form. She wasn't fat and lazy like other kittypets he had seen, no she had been using her skills that her foster mother, Kana, must have taught her.

'I wonder how much was taught to her, they could both be useful, Rusty would rule beside me and Moss could be my most fateful guard, the one who could tell me Clan secrets and keep a close eye on my cats' Scourge licked his lips as if he had tasted the juiciest piece of prey. 'Getting my little brother to join shouldn't be hard, but Moss will need some work.' He looked at Rusty who was gazing thoughtfully out the window. 'probably daydreaming about the forest' Scourge thought. Suddenly an idea came to Scourge.

"Rusty, have you ever wondered what it would be like to live as a wild cat?" Scourge asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, I have ever since my mother told my brothers, sisters and I those stories, I have thought about living without my housefolk." Rusty mewled softly. "I'm not sure I could."

"What if I taught you some moves?" Scourge meowed.

"Fighting moves or hunting moves?" Rusty asked excitingly

"Why not both? I'm sure you will do fine learning them, I think we'll start with fighting." Scourge said smoothly. "Moss your welcome to join as well" Moss look at Scourge unsure.

"Rusty shouldn't be learning how to fight and hunt until he's six moons old" meowed Moss. "That's when Clan kits start their training and when my foster mother trained me."

Scourge fixed his ice blue eyes on her.

"He isn't a Clan cat"

"He could get hurt; he isn't old enough to be fighting"

"I won't be fighting him merely training him"

"Then it should wait until he is older"

Rusty who had been watching the two of them argue finally spoke up.

"Moss what if you watch the training session? I'm sure Scourge wouldn't let me do anything too dangerous until I'm older and I promise not to strain myself" asked Rusty looking at her with his large emerald green orbs begging. Moss looked uneasy at first before submitting.

"Very well, I will supervise and I will be the one to decide when the sessions are over." Moss meowed giving Scourge hard stare that dared him to argue with her. Scourge merely shrugged and nodded. Rusty mewled happily and nuzzled Moss and Scourge who flinched a little.

"Can we start now?" asked Rusty looking at Scourge expectantly.

"We'll start tomorrow," meowed Scourge, "That way we can start just before dawn." Scourge leap down from the ledge, and padded over to a big basket with lots of pillows and blankets and lay down. Moss leaped after him and laid on the other side of the basket.

"Okay." Rusty purred. He jumped down from the ledge and hurried over to the basket and snuggled up in between the pair of them. His pelt brushed against Scourge, who flinched at the close contact. Scourge let his ice blue eyes fall on Rusty. 'If I train him properly we could rule together.' Scourge thought smugly.

"Goodnight Scourge, Moss." Rusty purred drowsily. Not waiting for a reply he closed his eyes and became flooded in dreams. Moss purred lovingly and meowed a soft goodnight to them both. 'Goodnight' Scourge thought as he too shut his eyes as he dreamt of their future.

(Okay, phew, first chapter is done I'm glad for that. Yes I do plan on having Scourge tell Rusty that they are brothers. Don't worry Rusty is still going to meet Graypaw in the forest they same way he did in the book he just isn't going to meet Bluestar and Lionheart the way he did in the book, at least not alone. I have been thinking of having Rusty seeing a few of his other siblings besides just Princess. As for the whole Rusty's mother thing that will be a side story that I'll work on. Oh and if you missed it in the story Rusty is supposed to be four moons old.)

(in case you were wondering Hazel is the name of one of Rusty's brothers, also in 'Fire and Ice' pg 116 fireheart tells princess that he dreams of her and their brothers and sister so I'm not completely making this up).


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own warriors if I did I would have changed many things don't sue me I have no money.

It had been almost two moons since Scourge had come to live with Rusty and Moss. He was very pleased with how Rusty was coming along. He had been teaching Rusty some of the fighting moves and techniques he had learned while out on the street under Moss' close supervision. Scourge noticed that while Rusty's muscles were still a little soft, he had lost most of his kitten plumpness and was starting to slim out nicely. His fiery ginger coat was sleek and his emerald green eyes flickered with intelligence. He watched as Rusty practiced his moves on Smudge during one of their play fighting sessions and saw just how quickly he was able to get the better of the slightly bigger kitten. Scourge's mind began to wander to the day he told Rusty the truth.

~ Flash back~

"_Well done Rusty." Scourge purred with satisfaction. Rusty had just completed a belly-rake move with excellent speed and grace._

"_Thank you, Scourge" Rusty meowed. His face brighten up at Scourge's praise. He sat down beside Scourge. Now 5 moons old he was starting to lose his kitten softness._

"_Yes you did very well, I'm proud to call you my brother." Scourge meowed softy. He had thought Rusty hadn't heard him, but Rusty's ears were sharp enough to pick up what he had said._

"_Your brother?" Rusty meowed. He looked hard at Scourge, who watched Rusty and blinked slowly. Moss' eyes widened in shock as she looked between Scourge and Rusty._

"_Yes I'm your brother, My mother was a she-cat named Quince and my father was a large ginger tom." Scourge meowed softly. "She told me that my father like to go into the forest." _

"_Your mother's name was Quince?" asked Rusty with wide eyes. " That's the name of the she-cat who had my half-siblings."_

"_I know, I figured that we might be siblings the day I first arrive here." meowed Scourge. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you." Rusty purred and touched noses with Scourge . Moss looking on with a shimmer of affection in her eyes._

_~ End Flashback~_

Scourge allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he let the memory pass over him. Although Scourge hated to admit it he was fond of the ginger ball of fluff. Even Moss had begun to grow on him, though he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. He allowed himself a quick glance at Moss who was curled up on the windowsill beside him.

'perhaps we will start on his hunting next.' thought Scourge as he turned his attention back over to Rusty from his perch on the windowsill. He was now able to use the cat door just like Rusty and Moss, but preferred to stay inside away from Smudge. About an hour later, Rusty jumped up on the windowsill, the bell of his collar ringing softly as he landed beside Scourge and gave him a quick lick on the ear. The housefolk hadn't given Scourge a collar since he still wore the one from his old home, but it's bell was gone, replaced by a pale tooth. Moss' wore a light pink collar with a bow on it.

"Hello Scourge, are we doing anything today?" asked Rusty as he bent his head to give himself a quick wash.

"I was thinking we could start working on your hunting," replied Scourge. He gave a look at Moss who nodded in acceptance. She made little fuss now that Rusty was six moons old. "We'll start right now, do you see that ball over there?" Scourge asked as he gestured to a bright red ball with his tail.

"Yes, I see it." Rusty meowed.

"Good," meowed Scourge. " I want you to sneak up on it as if it were a mouse."

Rusty jumped down from the window sill and began to creep up on the red squishy ball.

"No, not so fast and move lightly." growled Scourge. Watching from is perch on the window sill. Moss brushed her tail over Scourge's ears, her eyes flashing in amusement.

"It's only his first try you can't possibly expect him to get it right the very first time he tries." She purred softly.

"It's just a silly ball, I doubt it even knows I'm sneaking up on it," grumbled Rusty. "I bet I could catch a mouse just fine my first try." Scourge narrowed his eyes at Rusty. He stood up, bunching his muscles together and jumped down from the sill landing not far from where Rusty was sitting.

"Oh yes?" hissed Scourge "well than I think you should prove this to me, tomorrow I will

take you somewhere for you to hunt." meowed Scourge. Moss looked at Scourge with surprise on her face.

"Tomorrow? I was going to show him the home I grew up in. He is old enough now " meowed Moss.

"How about the day after?" Scourge meowed.

"Very well." she sighed knowing that Rusty would be very eager to prove himself a good hunter.

Scourge stretched out his body and flexed his claws. He padded over to the basket they shared and settled down to sleep. Moss came over and curled up beside him.

'I don't need to wait for tomorrow' thought Rusty. ' I'll go to the forest and catch a mouse, just like I do in my dreams.' Rusty climbed into the basket and got comfortable. Rusty settled down to rest in the basket.

Moss was sleeping peacefully in the basket dreaming of a fat plump mouse getting crushed by her paws. She awoke after awhile noticing that Rusty wasn't in the basket with them anymore, in fact Scourge was gone too. 'Where could they have gone' she thought curiously. She stretched to her paws and padded into the kitchen. She picked up the faint scent of Scourge lingering around the food dish and a fainter scent of Rusty. She lapped up a bit of water and sniffed around the kitchen trying to figure out where they had wandered off to. She noticed the window, above the counter, was open and she leaped up and out the window into the garden.

Moss raced toward the fence in the garden. She leaped upon the fence and let her gaze sweep across the area. 'There that has to be Rusty' She had spotted a ginger ball of fluff in the distance and bounded off toward it. She was almost to Rusty when a set of teeth snagged her collar and a paw covered her mouth preventing her from yelping allowed. She relaxed when she realized it was only Scourge. She began to move toward Rusty when Scourge stopped her and motioned for her to follow him.

Scourge stopped a quite a distance away and Moss saw that Rusty was in the process of hunting and understood now why Scourge prevented her from reaching Rusty. They hid behind a gorse bush peering around to see Rusty get distracted by something, and to see his prey slip away from him. Scourge let an amused look cross his face Moss assumed he was remembering how cocky Rusty had acted earlier.

Suddenly a flash of gray fur barrels into Rusty pinning him beneath it. Moss started toward him, but was once again stopped by Scourge who gave her a pointed look. Just as she was about to claw Scourge's ears off, Rusty broke free of the lump of gray fur and started heading back for the house, but she noticed the gray fur ball was gaining on Rusty. Moss figured Rusty must of knew it too for he spun around and faced the creature. It was a kitten about Rusty's age with strong shoulders, powerful legs and a thick gray shaggy coat. The kitten rushed toward Rusty who spun around quickly kicking the gray kitten in the chest and sending the kitten a few tail lengths away. The impact of the attack cause Rusty to stagger a bit, but he quickly got his footing back and crouched low waiting to see if the kitten would attack again. Moss saw a flash of pride cross Scourge's face. She also couldn't help but be proud of Rusty for quickly getting the advantage over the gray kitten. She watched the gray kitten sit up and scratch his ear with his hind leg non threateningly and began to speak to Rusty. They weren't close enough to make out all of what they were saying, but from what She gathered from their conversation she found that the kitten was a clan cat and that there were more cats and clans that lived out in the woods. Moss's eyes widened in surprise ' I wonder if he is from my mother's Clan?' Moss thought as she studied the kitten.

Suddenly the kitten started to mewl frantically and nudged Rusty, when a bigger blue-gray cat appeared. The gray kitten lowered his body to the ground. Nearly a heartbeat later a big golden cat appeared right behind the gray cat. Moss watched as Rusty mimicked the gray kitten by lowering himself to the ground. Scourge jumped from behind the gorse bush and rushed over to Rusty's side. Moss moved just as quickly to stand on Rusty's other side. She now had a better look at the two new cats. The golden cat was a tom with golden fur that wrapped around his neck like a lion's mane. The blue-gray cat was a she-cat with vibrant blue eyes.

Scourge narrowed his eyes at the blue-gray she-cat as she stepped forward and let her gaze fall on him.

'She looks familiar' thought Scourge. 'Where have I seen her before?'

"What's going on here?" meowed the blue-gray she-cat, keeping her gaze fixed on Scourge. Her gaze was hard and thoughtful as if he was familiar to her.

"Graypaw, who are these cats and why are you so close to the twolegs?" growled the golden tabby

"I'm sorry Lionheart," meowed Graypaw. "I didn't mean to get so close to the twoleg's territory, I smelt this kittypet in our territory so I thought that I should drive him out. I don't know who the other kittypets are."

"He's my brother." mewled Rusty pointing to Scourge with his tail "And she is my friend." flicking his tail in Moss' direction. Scourge looked down at Rusty who was still crouched low in a submissive position. Scourge had almost forgotten that Rusty was right beside him. He gave a glance at Moss who was staring closely at the blue-gray she-cat.

"This is Bluestar she is the leader of Thunderclan the clan I'm from." meowed Graypaw "And that's my mentor Lionheart, he is training me to be a warrior."

"Stand up, both of you." meowed Bluestar. Rusty rose to his paws and glanced at Scourge. Scourge watched Bluestar carefully as she swept her eyes over all of them. She held Moss' gaze and for a moment Scourge thought she looked a little startled.

"You fought well kittypet, you faced Graypaw bravely." meowed Bluestar letting her eyes fall on Rusty. "I think you would have caught that mouse if you had not been distracted."

"Bluestar these are kittypets they shouldn't be hunting in our territory. We should be sending them back to their twolegs" meowed Lionheart respectfully. 'Let them try' thought Scourge flexing his claws slightly already sizing up Lionheart and Bluestar. Moss had fluffed out her pelt in defiance her own claws flexing slightly digging up the soil beneath her claws. Rusty looked at everyone with a confused expression on his face.

"Why must we leave we only came to hunt a few mice. Surely there are enough to go around.?" meowed Rusty. Scourge snapped his head toward Rusty and growled low under his breath. Moss gave Rusty a sharp stare. At the same moment Bluestar and Lionheart also fixed their sharp gazes on him. Graypaw looked nervously from his clanmates toward the three kittypets.

"There isn't enough to go around" spat Bluestar. Her eyes were cold as she fixed them on Rusty. Scourge huffed and looked exasperatedly at his brother.

"Don't you remember anything I taught you about living away from housefolk and their nests? " meowed Scourge as he fixed his ice blue gaze on Rusty. "Cats who don't live with housefolk don't always have enough to eat, they must rely on their territory to feed them." Scourge turned his head back toward Bluestar and Lionheart. Lionheart watched him with a look of surprise on his face, while Bluestar looked at him with a pleased look on her face.

"Yes you are quite right ," meowed Bluestar "Tell me what are your names?"

"I am Scourge"

"My name is Moss"

"My name is Rusty" meowed Rusty "I'm sorry about the comment I made earlier I didn't think about the other cats who live in the forest, we will not hunt here anymore."

"You three very unusual kittypets." meowed Bluestar. "Any other kittypets would have run away back to their nest long ago." Rusty's ear twitched happily at the approval in her voice. Moss' eyes brighten considerably and Scourge didn't show it but he was also pleased by Bluestar's praise. Scourge noticed that Bluestar was once again looking intensely at Moss.

"Is your Clan very big?" asked Rusty curiously.

"How about the three of you come and see for yourselves" Bluestar said carefully "Would all of you like to join Thunderclan?" Graypaw's eyes widened in shock and he sputtered to speak to his leader.

"But they are kittypets." Graypaw meowed "They don't have our warrior blood"

"A lot of that blood has been spilt lately." mewled Bluestar sadly. Lionheart watched his leader for a moment before he turned to look at Rusty, Moss and Scourge.

"Bluestar is offering you three training. Although it might be too much for you since you must be use to a comfortable life." meowed Lionheart. Rusty looked hurt by Lionheart's words, Moss spat crossly, while the fur on Scourge's neck began to rise and he let out a hiss.

"I had to live most of my life so far as a rogue" spat Scourge. His ice blue eyes flashed coldly " I know what it is like to live without the care of housefolk."

"And my adoptive mother taught me to respect territory and how to hunt sufficiently for myself." growled Moss fixing Lionheart with a harsh stare.

Lionheart let his bright green eyes move from Scourge to Moss. Bluestar took a step forward causing them to move their eyes back on her.

"He did not mean to insult you, just that the offer I have made to you is not one to be taken lightly " soothed Bluestar. "You three will come to our Clan and you will learn our ways but if you cannot live by our code you will have to go back to your twolegs and not return." Bluestar watched the two for a reaction. Rusty looked a little unsure but determined. Scourge had a thoughtful expression on his face. Moss had an unreadable look on her face.

"If you join, you will have to be willing to give your life for the clan, but you'll know what is like to be a true cat." Bluestar meowed. She look at Rusty and Scourge. " and you both will remain toms." . Rusty and Scourge exchanged looks with each other.

"What do you mean remain a tom?" Scourge asked calmly.

"There is a place where twolegs take cats and when they return they are no longer able to mate." Bluestar sighed. Rusty's eyes widen in terror. Scourge looked unsure of what to think. Moss had an amused look on her face.

"May we be given time to think about our decision?" asked Scourge. Bluestar gave him a nod.

"Very well Lionheart will be waiting here tomorrow at sunhigh." meowed Bluestar "You may give him your answer." Bluestar flicked her tail in a silent command and led her clanmates back into the forest. Moss, Scourge and Rusty stood side by side and watched them go until they were out of sight.

( Phew, that may have been longer than the last chapter. They will meet the clan next. Hopefully, who knows where I will go with this. There are going to be similarities between Scourge's life in Thunderclan and Rusty's but there will also be plenty of differences between them. Also Scourge trained Rusty responsively. He had his claws sheathed unlike Brokenstar and didn't push him too hard. Moss is going to start piecing things together )


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rusty awoke from the basket and noticed that Scourge and Moss weren't with him. He bounded out of the basket. He lapped up the water in the dish and pushed his way through the cat flap into the garden. He saw Scourge stretched out in the sun. Moss was beside him grooming his sleek black fur. Rusty purred in amusement at the annoyed look on Scourge's face. He started toward them when he heard a voice meowing at him from the fence.

"Hi Rusty it's about time you woke up." meowed Smudge as he sat on the fence. Scourge lifted his head and looked irately at Smudge before glancing over at Rusty. Moss meowed a greeting to Smudge before going back to grooming Scourge. Smudge looked nervously from Scourge to Rusty. Smudge hadn't forgotten the time Scourge almost clawed his ears off after he mistook Scourge for Rusty hiding behind a bush, Smudge warily avoided Scourge as he hopped down to stand in front of Rusty.

Smudge shook his head slowly. "You are going to get as bad as Henry if you start sleeping in."

"The three of us went into the forest last night." Rusty meowed.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that, you say Scourge and Moss went too?" Smudge asked. Rusty looked over at Scourge who had moved away from Moss and was currently giving himself a wash. Moss simply laid stretched out in the sun. Scourge glanced up at Rusty briefly before he went back to his wash.

Rusty nodded "Yes they followed me out to forest and we ran into some wild cats."

Smudge's eyes widen "Really, were they violent ,did you have to fight them?" Smudge's eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder.

Rusty closed his eyes and briefly recalled the excitement and fear he felt from his battle with the young Graypaw. He opened his eyes and explained all that happened that night in the forest.

"So these cats want all of you to join them?" Smudge looked at Rusty in slight disbelief. "Scourge I can see them asking to join their group or whatever, but you and Moss? She's too nice to join the likes of them." Moss gave him an amused stare.

"It's true, and decided that I want to go." Rusty mewed firmly. Scourge had finished grooming himself earlier and had settled down, His ears twitched and he walked over to Rusty and the shocked Smudge.

"Are you sure?" mewed Scourge. " It won't be easy. I lived in the street for most of my life it was tough and food was sometimes hard to come by."

"Yes I want to join. Will you both join as well?" asked Rusty. Moss rose to her feet moving over to sit beside him.

"Yes I will join I had decide I would join last night but I wanted to wait for you and Scourge's decisions." She purred softly.

Scourge looked at them for a moment thinking back to the conversation in the forest. He was more curious about the Clan leader since she seemed oddly familiar. "I will join as well." Rusty's eyes brighten considerably and he blinked affectionately at his brother.

"No don't go Rusty" wailed Smudge. Scourge cringed slightly and glared at him.

"Don't worry Smudge I'm sure my housefolk will get another cat." meowed Rusty comfortingly. "Smudge I'm sorry, but I can't stay here I have to go." Smudge gently touched noses with Rusty and asked if they could play together one last time before they left. Rusty agreed and the started to gently wrestle with each other. Moss leaped onto the fence and stared thoughtfully into the forest. Scourge stretched himself out once more and settled down to wait for sunhigh.

The three approached the spot where they had spoke to the clan cats the night before. Scourge paused suddenly and tasted the air. He smelt the scent of Lionheart and another cat that was with him. He looked over at Moss who also seemed to have picked up the scents. Rusty glanced over at Scourge.

"Tell me Rusty," Scourge meowed slowly. "What do you scent?" Rusty started scenting the air and smelt the stale scents of Graypaw and Bluestar and a slightly stronger scent of Lionheart.

"Bluestar and Graypaw aren't here." meowed Rusty "and Lionheart is close by." Scourge sighed slightly but remembered that Rusty had lived his life so far as a kittypet and wasn't use to having to distinguish between scents.

"Yes he is but there is someone else with him" meowed Scourge "can you smell them?"

Rusty looked slightly alarmed to hear that there was another cat with Lionheart. He started to taste the air again, when Lionheart came out from behind a bush.

"I see your life outside of a twoleg nest served you well Scourge." meowed Lionheart. He looked over at Rusty. "You didn't do bad but you have a long way to go Rusty." Another cat came out from behind the bush. He was a long bodied muscular white tom.

"This is Whitestorm" meowed Lionheart. " we were sent to bring you back to camp." Whitestorm gave each of them a curious sniff and stared thoughtfully at Moss, who looked just as curious.

"Greetings, I have heard much about you three." murmured Whitestorm.

"Lets go, we can talk when we get back to camp." growled Lionheart. He turned and dashed away into the forest. Scourge and Moss were hot on their heels with Rusty a few pawsteps behind them. The warriors led them through the undergrowth. They barely slowed their pace as they leaped over fallen trees. Moss and Scourge stayed close on their heels clearing the fallen trees in one leap as the warriors did. Rusty struggled to keep up but didn't fall far behind them. They came across a ravine and halted.

"We are near our camp." meowed Lionheart. Rusty started to strain to see through the undergrowth, but Moss nudged him slightly.

"Use your nose" She murmured to him. Rusty once again tasted the air.

"I scent many cats." meowed Rusty at last. Whitestorm and Lionheart nodded in approval while they gave each other amused looks.

"Come Bluestar is expecting us" meowed Lionheart. He led the way to a gorse tunnel and pushed his way through. Scourge followed him, then Rusty, Moss followed closely behind Rusty, with Whitestorm taking the rear. There was a bare clearing. There were many cats lying next to each other or sitting by themselves. The cats had started to pick up Scourge, Moss and Rusty's scents and looked at the three warily. Bluestar bounded over to them .

"They came" purred Bluestar pleased. "What do you think of them Whitestorm?"

"They did well on the way here." admitted Whitestorm "Moss and Scourge know enough that I think they should be made warriors." Scourge perked his ears up after hearing this, while Moss' eyes brightened considerably.

"I thought so too, So we are agreed?" meowed Bluestar, both warriors nodded. "Very well." Bluestar leap to the top of a large boulder.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highrock for a Clan meeting." Cats came over to crowd beneath the rock and looked up curiously at Bluestar. She began to speak to her Clan about a need for more warriors.

"I have decided to take these three outsiders into our Clan to be trained." meowed Bluestar. Cats started to mutter to one another and some gave Rusty, Moss and Scourge a few glances.

"They are kittypets, look at their collars" sneered a pale tabby.

"We don't need any soft lumps of fur to feed" hissed a small dusky brown she-cat sitting next to him.

" They probably will run back to their twolegs' nest the moment they start a battle." spat a sleek black and gray tabby tom.

Moss, Scourge and Rusty looked over at the direction the voices came from. Lionheart bent down and began to murmur to them.

"The pale tabby is Longtail, the black and gray tabby tom is Darkstripe and the she-cat is Mousefur they are challenging your right to the Clan." he hissed "Will you meet their challenge.?" Scourge looked at Rusty who looked at him and they both looked at Moss who gave them both a nod. The three began to pinpoint where their mockers were sitting. Scourge twitched his ear as a signal and they leaped as one onto their respective opponents. Rusty leaped onto Longtail's back and sank his teeth into his scruff and began to rake his back with his claws while Scourge sank his teeth into Mousefur's scruff and began to violently shake her and take swipes at her with his claws. Moss knocked Darkstripe onto his back and slapped his face with her claws unsheathed before leaping back to safety. Darkstripe scrambled to his paws charging for Moss who dodged out of the way and raked her claws down his side. Wincing Darkstripe turned back-kicking Moss who rolled with the impact and landed on her paws quickly. Darkstripe tackled her to the ground his teeth catching her collar. Moss kicked him in the stomach with both her hind legs flipping him over her and snapping her collar a few tail lengths away another collar snapped.

Longtail started to flip onto his back hoping to crush Rusty beneath him but Rusty was quicker he leaped off and as Longtail rolled over Rusty raked his claws over his belly, but he was too close to Longtail and one of Longtail's paws hit his head. Longtail quickly got to his feet and leap at Rusty's throat snagging the collar between his teeth.

Mousefur slashed at Scourge with all four paws and he loosened his grip. She wiggled free and moved to slash at Scourge's face. Scourge ducked out of the way and spun around quickly back kicking Mousefur a few tail lengths away. Slightly winded Mousefur rose and tackled Scourge. The two of them wrestled and there was a snap heard a few tail lengths away while Scourge's collar slid off from around his neck. Immediately Bluestar said it was a sign that they were to join the Clan. She beckoned The three over with her tail.

"Moss, Scourge do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?" meowed Bluestar

"I do" meowed Scourge.

"I do" Moss meowed.

"Scourge from this moment on you will be known as Scourgeclaw I accept you as a warrior of Thunderclan." She lowered her muzzle onto his head and gently told him to lick her shoulder. He did and took a few steps back.

"Moss from this moment on you will be known as Mossflower and accept you as a full warrior of ThunderClan

"Scourgeclaw, Mossflower, Scourgeclaw, Mossflower" cats yowled. Some yowled a bit reluctantly.

Bluestar looked over to Rusty and beckoned him over. "By naming apprentices, we show that Thunderclan will survive and remain strong. From this moment on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Firepaw."

(Okay I know that the fight that occurred between Firepaw and Longtail didn't happen that way, but remember Scourge was teaching him how to fight before he came to Thunderclan. I think this is a good place to end it. I might make time pass a lot faster than it did into the books. I chose Mousefur to be the other mocker because I thought she would be perfect for it. I did consider Darkstripe but only after I had finished the scene. So in the next chapter I plan on having Scourge make a friend maybe more if he behaves. Also he is going to meet an old acquaintance from his kithood)


	4. Chapter 4

(So sorry this story got deleted and I hadn't really noticed , but its back up now. I also have had a chance to finish reading Bluestar's Prophesy)

Chapter 4

"Hey Firepaw, Scourgeclaw, Mossflower!" yowled Graypaw. The gray apprentice bounded up to the two newly named cats. "You three were great fighters. Longtail, Mousefur and Darkstripe didn't know what hit them."

"Thanks Graypaw" meowed Firepaw.

"Welcome you three"

"Scourgeclaw, Firepaw, Mossflower"

The cats started to greet the three cats with warm welcoming mewls. Scourgeclaw looked around and noticed that their defeated oppnents weren't in the in the clearing any longer.

"Where did Longtail, Mousefur and Darkstripe go?" asked Scourgeclaw. Graypaw turned his attention to the Scourgeclaw.

"I think they went to Spottedleaf's den" replied Graypaw. "She is our medicine cat. She is responsible for keeping the Clan healthy and taking care of our wounds." Scourgeclaw nodded. A golden brown tom approached the four cats with a friendly wave of his tail.

"Hello I'm Goldenclaw, those were impressive moves you three used." meowed the golden tabby tom.

"Thank you we may have lived with twolegs but, we refused to be fat, lazy, cats that do nothing but lie around and wait for their next meal." meowed Mossflower.

Suddenly a yowl broke through the camp as a young cat raced into the camp. He was black with a white tipped tail. He looked ragged and he seemed to be afraid of something.

"Why is Ravenpaw here by himself? Where are Redtail and Tigerclaw?" gasped Graypaw in shock. Scourgeclaw whipped his head away from Ravenpaw too look at Graypaw. 'Could it be him?' wondered Scourgeclaw.

"Who are Ravenpaw, Redtail, and Tigerclaw?" asked Firepaw. He looked curiously over at Scourgeclaw before focusing his gaze back over to Ravenpaw. Even Mossflower had a curious look on her face.

"Redtail is our deputy" meowed Graypaw " Tigerclaw is one of our warriors and Ravenpaw is Tigerclaw's apprentice." Firepaw nodded and watched as Bluestar came over to stand in front of Ravenpaw. As she walked Mossflower didn't take her eyes of the ThunderClan leader.

"What has happened Ravenpaw?" asked Bluestar with concern. "Where is the rest of the patrol?"

Ravenpaw stood up and yowled out.

"Redtail" Ravenpaw started. "Redtail is dead!" All the of the cats started yowl in shock and disbelief. Ravenpaw waited until the cats quieted down before speaking again.

"We met a Riverclan patrol and Oakheart was leading them." Ravenpaw wheezed a little before he continued. "Oakheart said that he was going to take over Sunningrocks. Redtail told him that any warrior from Riverclan that crossed onto Thunderclan territory would be killed. Then a fight broke out." Ravenpaw slumped to the ground. Scourgeclaw noticed that Ravenpaw had quite a few wounds and must have passed out from the pain.

"Spottedleaf" Bluestar called out. A beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat came over and sniffed at Ravenpaw's wounds before she asked one of the warriors, a brown tabby tom to help her move Ravenpaw to her den. A few moments later a large brown tabby tom with amber eyes came through the gorse tunnel carrying the still body of a dark tortoiseshell tom with a bright red tail. The Clan cats began to murmur amongst each other. Some cats began to wail in grief for the loss of their deputy. Mossflower's eyes widened when her eyes fell on the fallen deputy. For a moment she had a vision of younger dark tortoiseshell tom with a red tail telling her about a mouse he caught. Scourgeclaw however wasn't as interested in the dead warrior as he was the cat carrying said warrior. Scourgeclaw stiffened, his icy gaze fixed on the brown tabby with amber eyes. The tabby warrior dragged the fallen deputy to the center of the clearing and laid his body down. The Clan cats started to gather around the body.

"Tigerclaw, what happened?" Bluestar asked. "Who did this?" The large tabby looked over at his leader and spoke with an unwavering voice.

"It was Oakheart he killed Redtail" meowed Tigerclaw. "I avenged Redtail by taking Oakheart's life I don't think we will see RiverClan on our territory for awhile." The Clan started to groom Redtail's fur murmuring soft words to the lifeless body.

"What are they doing?" Scourgeclaw heard Firepaw ask Graypaw. Graypaw answered that they were sharing tongues with him one last time before he joined their ancient warrior ancestors. Then Graypaw padded forwarded to pay his respects to Redtail. Scourge had not taken his eyes off of Tigerclaw since the tabby warrior had come through the gorse tunnel. He now knew that his earlier thoughts were right. He turned his gaze over to Bluestar and now knew why she was so familiar to him. He decided that now was not the time to confront her or Tigerclaw it was a time of grief. He nudged Firepaw and led him a little bit away from the mourning cats, Mossflower followed close behind, having wrenched her gaze away from the dead deputy, and moved a fair distance away and watched. Graypaw came over to them and explained that Redtail had been a great warrior and was also a mentor to Dustpaw, a young brown tabby sitting beside Redtail's body. Tigerclaw moved away from Redtail and started to move out of the clearing.

"Where is he going?" murmured Scourgeclaw loud enough for only Firepaw, Mossflower and Graypaw to hear.

"He is probably going to check on Ravenpaw." answered Graypaw. "I want to go check on him as well since he seemed to be shaken up badly by that attack." Scourgeclaw and Firepaw nodded and agreed to follow Graypaw into Spottedleaf's clearing where they saw Tigerclaw moving into her den. The four cats padded over and peered into the den. Spottedleaf was crouched beside Ravenpaw placing cobwebs on his wounds while Tigerclaw paced back and forth.

"Well Spottedleaf is my apprentice going to live?" asked Tigerclaw "I wouldn't want him to die after his first battle."

"Of course he'll live Tigerclaw" came the soft purr of Spottedleaf "He just needs rest." Tigerclaw came over to Ravenpaw and nudged him with one of his talon-like claws. Firepaw gasped and muttered something about not wanting to meet him in battle and Graypaw agreed with him 'we may have to Firepaw, if what I am thinking is true then we may both have to face him in battle' thought Scourgeclaw. Spottedleaf shooed Tigerclaw away telling him that Ravenpaw needed to rest. Tigerclaw started out of the den when he noticed Firepaw, Scourgeclaw and Graypaw. He padded over to stand before them."

"Who are they?" asked Tigerclaw as he looked over Scourgeclaw, Mossflower and Firepaw.

"That's Scourgeclaw and his brother Firepaw and their friend Mossflower, they are our newest warrior and apprentice." answered Graypaw

"They smell like kittypets and how can one of the brothers be made a warrior before the other?" Tigerclaw sniffed

"I was born in a earlier litter than Firepaw and I use to be a rogue, I am more than capable of looking after myself" Scourgeclaw meowed with a cool tone.

"And I was taught to defend my territory and catch my own prey." meowed Mossflower with an icy tone her fur fluffing out in annoyance.

Tigerclaw who had been looking at Firepaw turned his gaze over to Scourgeclaw and Mossflower, he stared at them thoughtfully.

"I see well then I will watch how you all adjust to clan life with interest." Tigerclaw meowed as he walked away." Firepaw sat up straighter and Scourgeclaw let his icy gaze follow Tigerclaw's departure. Mossflower's fur slowly flattened against her pelt as he walked away.

"Do you think he liked us?" asked Firepaw. Though she was still irritated by the tabby warrior, Mossflower couldn't help but twitch her whisker's in amusement at Firepaw.

"I don't know honestly he isn't exactly the friendliest warrior to apprentices or outsiders." meowed Graypaw. 'I bet' thought Scourgeclaw.

Ravenpaw who had been lying motionless on the ground opened one of his eyes and looked at Graypaw.

"Is Tigerclaw gone?" asked Ravenpaw.

"Yeah he is gone" answered Graypaw

"You all need to leave, my patient needs to rest" Spottedleaf mewed with an impatient flick of her tail.

"Okay then" meowed Graypaw "We'll see you later Ravenpaw." Graypaw led them away from Spottedleaf's den and headed and back toward the clearing.

"How about I show you three around?" asked Graypaw. Mossflower, Scourgeclaw and Firepaw nodded. Graypaw led them around camp showing them all of the dens. They headed into the elder's den. The elder's greeted the cats and congratulated the three on their new positions in the Clan.

"I doubt these fine cats will have a vigil" meowed Halftail nodding his head toward Scourgeclaw and Mossflower.

"I don't think so either, though Scourgeclaw has been quiet since he came in here I doubt he needs a vigil" purred Dappletail teasingly as she look at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw shifted on his paws a little. Mossflower gave Scourge claw an amused stare. Firepaw looked curiously at the elders.

"A vigil ? What vigil?" asked Firepaw.

"The warriors vigil of course." answered Graypaw.

"It is tradition that newly named warriors sit a silent vigil all night." meowed Patchpelt.

"Oh, why won't they have a vigil?" asked Firepaw a little upset believing the elder's didn't think his brother or friend were good enough for their traditions. Smallear looked at Firepaw and gave him a gentle lick on the ear.

"Calm down youngster," Smallear purred "They only mean that with Redtail's death happening so suddenly it wouldn't be appropriate for him to have a vigil." Firepaw stared at him before nodding in acceptance.

"I wonder when Bluestar will appoint a new deputy?" Smallear meowed.

"Remember when Bluestar was made a deputy many moons ago?" asked One-eye. Scourge glanced curiously at pale gray she-cat.

"I remember it was right after she lost her kits" meowed Dappletail. Scourge then looked at Dappletail. 'So Bluestar had been a mother?' thought Scourge. Mossflower's ears perked up when Dappletail mentioned Bluestar's kits.

"Yes that's right those three sweet furry little bundles." meowed Patchpelt.

"Those poor kits" meoewed Rosetail who shook her head sadly. "And poor Bluestar she had so much sorrow in her life, I think all the sorrow made her the best warrior, the strongest deputy and the wisest leader ThunderClan has ever had."A sad look over came Smallear.

"I remember her smallest kit, Mosskit that leaf-bare tumbling in the snow squealing at me to watch her." he meowed sadly. Scourgeclaw glanced at Mossflower, who had a far away look in her eyes. 'I wonder if that was her' he thought looking at Mossflower's glazed eyes.

"if you don't mind me asking, what happened to her kits?" asked Scourgeclaw curiously, never taking his eyes off Mossflower.

"It was our coldest leaf-bare, and during the night a fox broke into the nursery and stole Bluestar's kits, I remember I was also in the den caring for my first litter of kits." meowed One-eye.

"We searched for days, but we never found them" meowed Dappletail with a long sigh.

"I was worried she wouldn't be the same after that. My mother, Poppydawn, wasn't after my sister died." meowed Rosetail. Firepaw joined Scourgeclaw in watching Mossflower as she seemed to be in a faraway place. Scourgeclaw decided it was safer to move change the conversation to something different.

"So when will Bluestar choose her new deputy? He asked. The atmosphere changed a little bringing their minds back to the fallen ThunderClan deputy.

"She will make her choice before Moonhigh." meowed Halftail.

Smallear spoke about how it wouldn't be easy for Bluestar to chose another deputy after Redtail had served her for so long and Halftail mentioned that the new choice for deputy would be an obvious choice. Scourgeclaw's tail flicked uneasily. 'I hope they don't mean Tigerclaw' He thought to himself.

"Tigerclaw would make a good choice as deputy. I think my brother did a good job as his mentor." meowed Rosetail. Scourgeclaw eyes widened and he looked at Rosetail. Mossflower touched her tail to Scourgeclaw's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she whispered

"Later." he meowed. Mossflower looked concerened, but group decided to give the elder's some peace and left the elder's den. The sky was dark and littered with stars. Many cats were still mourning Redtail in the clearing.

"Should we pay our respects?" asked Firepaw. Graypaw shook his head

"Only cats who were close to him or knew him should pay their respects to him." meowed Graypaw. Suddenly Bluestar appeared on Highrock calling the cats to her.

"It is time now that I chose a new deputy so I say this now in the presence of Redtail so that he may approve my choice, Lionheart will be deputy." Bluestar finished she leapt from Highrock and padded over to Redtail. Cats began to congratulate Lionheart before going over to Redtail. Scourgeclaw had noticed that Tigerclaw didn't seem happy about the announcement but still came over to congratulate Lionheart. A swift looking tabby padded toward the four cats.

"Runningwind" Graypaw meowed dipping his head in respect to the warrior. Runningwind nodded to Graypaw

"Greetings Graypaw." meowed the tabby. He turned his attention to the other three.

"Greetings I am Runningwind" meowed Runningwind. He looked directly Mossflower and Scourgeclaw. "I'm guessing that you two aren't going to be having a vigil so I thought I would take you to the warrior's den." Runningwind added. Scourgeclaw nodded his head. Mossflower however, for a moment saw a much smaller swift looking tabby kitten flinging snow at a small white and gray kitten. She snapped out of it when Scourgeclaw nudged her a little. She realized that they had been waiting for her to say what she wanted to do.

"Yes that sound fine I am quite tired." meowed Mossflower hoping that would explain why she seemed so out of it. Runningwind nodded in understanding.

"Since Runningwind is taking Scourgeclaw to the warrior's den I will take you to make your nest in the apprentice den" Graypaw meowed to Firepaw. Firepaw nodded and touched noses with his brother and Mossflower, before following Graypaw to the apprentice den. Scourgeclaw watched them walk off before following Runningwind toward the warrior den. Lionheart called Scourgeclaw over to him. Scourgeclaw excused himself from Runningwind before coming over to Lionheart.

"Bluestar wishes to speak with you in her den before you rest" meowed the golden tabby. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes

"Do you know why?" asked Scourgeclaw suspiciously . Lionheart shook his head

"No, only that you need to speak with her before you rest." answered Lionheart.

"Very well, will you tell Bluestar that I will meet her in her den?" asked Scourgeclaw. Lionheart gave him a nod and padded toward the blue-gray leader. Scourgeclaw motioned for Runningwind to come over to him. Runningwind and Mossflower came over to Scourgeclaw.

"I'll meet you in the warrior's den." They both gave him curious looks. "Bluestar wishes to talk to me" Scourgeclaw added.

"Okay then I'll make sure there will be a nest prepared for you." Runningwind meowed, before he bounded over to the warrior's den. Mossflower touched her nose to Scourgeclaw's shoulder before following Runningwind. Scourgeclaw made his way over to the Highrock. He slipped into Bluestar's den and sat patiently on the sandy floor. Moments later Bluestar came into the den and sat down into her nest fixing Scourgeclaw with a thoughtful stare.

"Scourgeclaw though you are a warrior I am having you and Mossflower join the apprentices for a few days so that you become familiar with the territory. Do not worry you both will still be allowed to sleep in the warrior's den ." Bluestar meowed. Scourgeclaw blinked slowly and twitched his ear.

"I understand Bluestar, but I have a feeling that isn't the reason you called me in here." Scourgeclaw meowed. Bluestar's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"You're sharp Scourgeclaw, and your right that wasn't the only reason I asked to speak with you." Bluestar meowed . "I am guessing you remember that day in the forest." Scourgeclaw nodded.

"I do, and I remember what he almost did to me." Scourgeclaw said with an icy tone.

"Tigerclaw was young and unreasonable back then, I don't think he even remembers you or what happened that day." meowed Bluestar softly. "I hope there won't be trouble from you over this in the future."

"Why did you allow my brother and I to join ThunderClan if you were worried about a fight?" asked Scourgeclaw

"Because we need strong warriors, but also because I saw how strong and formidable of a warrior you had become." Bluestar held Scourgeclaw's gaze. "I thought that you would make a fine warrior for ThunderClan." Scourgeclaw searched Bluestar's gaze for any dishonesty in her words. When he saw that she was sincere he relaxed.

"I will do my best to be a good warrior of ThunderClan and to not start anything with Tigerclaw." Scourgeclaw meowed. Bluestar nodded then dismissed him. Scourgeclaw backed out of Bluestar's den and looked around the clearing. There were cats still crouched by the fallen deputy. Scourgeclaw guessed that they would lay there with Redtail till morning along with Bluestar. Just as he began to walk off Mossflower approached him. Scourgeclaw looked surprised.

"I thought you were going to the warrior's den." meowed Scourgeclaw. Mossflower looked pass him at Bluestar's den.

"I did, but I wanted to make sure you were alright and I wanted to speak to Bluestar." meowed Mossflower, Scourgeclaw had no doubt that Mossflower wanted to speak to Bluestar. Just as he was going to ask her why she wanted to speak to Bluestar, Bluestar herself appeared .

"Bluestar, may I speak with you?" asked Mossflower. Bluestar hesitated a bit before nodding and leading Mossflower to her den. Mossflower gave Scourgeclaw a nod as she followed Bluestar. Bluestar sat patiently in her nest as Mossflower made herself comfort able on the sandy floor.

"Okay Mossflower what is it you wanted to talk to me about." Bluestar meowed.

"I have one question for you, are you my mother?"

(Whew, Okay I'm going to end it here. Will Bluestar tell Mossflower the truth? Will she lie? Or will she only tell her part of the truth?

Anyway if you read Bluestar's Prophecy or The Rise of Scourge you know what Bluestar and Scourgeclaw where discussing in her den.

The next Chapter will be about exploring the territory. What do you think of Runningwind and Scourgeclaw as friends? I wasn't exactly sure who should be Scourgeclaw's friends but I have an idea of who those friends are.

Scourgeclaw will have a relationship but who do you think it will be with? What kind of relationship do you think it will be? Forbidden? Good? Will he even fall for a she-cat from ThunderClan? Mossflower will also have a relationship but with who? Will I ever stop talking to myself? All thoughts are welcome.

Mossflower will also have a relationship, but with who?

Forgive me if the characters are a little OOC, I know Scourgeclaw is a little out there but I'm trying not to make him too cold.

I know some of you may wonder what will happen between Scourgeclaw and a certain ShadowClan cat, truthfully I'm not sure myself but I have an idea of what I want to do so be ready for that and no it's not Yellowfang though Scourgeclaw will meet her eventually

Okay had this chapter redone because of Rosetail. I completly forgot about putting her in this story. )


	5. Chapter 5

(Okay I know some people want to know who Goldenclaw is, he wasn't suppose to be a huge part of the story but, he is somewhat important. I will give clues as to who his parents are, I think I will either mention or give clues who his mother is in the next chapter. I will say that he is a full blooded ThunderClan cat.

Okay I was planning on following closely to the book with most things coming from Scourge's point of view but since I had planned on changing a few things I just decided that I'm going to do a lot of cutting so time is going to move quickly. I will also make something's from Mossflower's point of view.

Also I change a few things in The Old territory for ThunderClan and RiverClan. The Tree Cut place doesn't exist it is an extension of ThunderClan territory so there is undergrowth through the pine trees and twolegs don't come there to cut down the trees. Also the farm that is right behind RiverClan Territory is across the street. Where the horses are grazing is more wooded area like another forest.)

Chapter 5

Bluestar looked deep into Mossflower's eyes and could see he determination to know the truth.

"Yes I am." she meowed with a sigh. Mossflower's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Bluestar to tell her the truth.

"Bluestar, why did you give me up?" Bluestar's eyes narrowed.

"What did Kana tell you?" she meowed.

"Only that it was a harsh leaf-bare and you thought that I wouldn't survive it so you gave me up to save me." Bluestar seemed to sigh in relief. 'Did she think Kana said something bad about her?' thought Mossflower, as her mother seemed to relax more.

"Yes all of that is true. I cared for you to much to let you die so young." meowed Bluestar. Mossflower watched Bluestar carefully. She had the feeling her mother wasn't telling her everything, but decided not to pry any further.

"Will you tell the Clan?" asked Mossflower.

"Would you tell them?" Bluestar meowed watching Mossflower closely. Mossflower thought about it for a moment before answering with a sigh.

"No, being apart of a Clan means being able to trust your Clanmates. When you gave me up you showed that you didn't believe in your Clan to find enough food to feed us during that leaf-bare. I wouldn't want the Clan upset with you." meowed Mossflower. Bluestar's eyes softened.

"Do you hate me for what I did?" Mossflower shook her head.

"No, you only did what you thought was right." she meowed. Bluestar purred softly and moved over to touch noses with Mossflower.

"I am sorry, but I must go and grieve for my fallen deputy." she meowed sadly. Mossflower nodded in understanding following Bluestar back into the clearing. Bluestar walked over to Redtail's body to join the other cats still grieving. Mossflower walked over to the warrior's den just as Runningwind emerged from the den.

"Oh there you are, I finished making your nest. Its right in between Scourgeclaw's and my nest." meowed Runningwind as Mossflower approached him.

"Oh thank you Runningwind will you be resting?" Runningwind shook his head.

"No I want to share tongues with Redtail for a little longer."

"I understand, I'm sure he was a great deputy." She meowed. 'and a great hunter' thought Mossflower as she remember her earlier thought when she saw the former deputy.

"He was, well I hope you have a good rest." Runningwind meowed as he walked past her heading toward Redtail's body. Mossflower watched him go. 'You turned into a fine warrior Runningkit.' thought Mossflower as she pushed her way into the warriors den. She looked around for Scourgeclaw but noticed he wasn't anywhere in the warrior's den. She was about to go back out the nest to find Runningwind when a voice called out to her.

"Over here Mossflower." Mossflower looked over to see Goldenclaw pawing at a he was standing next to. Mossflower made her way over to the golden brown warrior. He pointed with his tail to a nest between two other nests. She meowed her thanks before curling up in the nest. Just as Goldenclaw headed toward the opening of the warriors den Mossflower called out to him.

"Goldenclaw, have you seen Scourgeclaw?" Goldenclaw shook his head.

"No I haven't he walked out of the den a while ago" meowed Goldenclaw.

"Okay well thanks anyway." meowed Mossflower. Goldenclaw nodded and walked out the den. 'Maybe Scourgeclaw went to make dirt' she thought as she curled into her nest.

After Mossflower walked into Bluestar's den, Scourgeclaw walked into the warriors den and began to help Runningwind make his and Mossflower's nests. Scourgeclaw noticed that Runningwind seemed to be making sure that Mossflower's nest was more than comfortable. Scourgeclaw curled up into his nest and started to fall asleep when his thoughts went back to his conversation with Bluestar. Despite Bluestar's reassurances it didn't change what Tigerclaw did to him as a kitten. While Runningwind was still working on Mossflower's nest, he walked toward the entrance. Goldenclaw enter the den as he was coming out.

"Hi Scourgeclaw where are you going?" asked Goldenclaw. Runningwind looked up from his work to look at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw growled inwardly, but outwardly he kept a neutral look on his face.

"I'm just going to make dirt, I'll be back soon." meowed Sourgeclaw. He padded out of the warriors den and looked at the cats that were gathered around Redtail's body. When he was sure that no one was watching he padded over to the spot where he buried his collar after his fight with Mousefur. He unburied the collar and brought it over to a spot where small rocks formed a small cave. A quick sniff at it told him that it wasn't used for anything and hardly any cats came over to this small part of camp. He hid his collar in the small cave then padded over to the warrior's den. Once inside he looked around and spotted Mossflower curled up in a nest of moss between his and Runningwind's nest. He made his way over to the nest and curled up to sleep.

Scourgeclaw blinked sleepily as he felt a paw jab him in his side.

"Scourgeclaw, get up it's almost dawn" a voice hissed into his ear. Scourgeclaw looked up and noticed Runningwind hovering over him.

"Okay I'm getting up" meowed Scourgeclaw as he stretched his long body and shook his pelt. He followed Runningwind out into the clearing. Mossflower was giving herself a wash just outside the warrior's den. She gave a nod to Scourgeclaw before going back to cleaning her fur. Scourgeclaw looked into the sky and saw the sun was beginning to rise. He looked around camp and noticed that Redtail's body was gone and he figured they took it out of camp to bury him. He saw Lionheart speaking with Graypaw before the gray apprentice raced back toward the apprentice den. Lionheart noticed him watching and beckoned him over with a flick of his tail. Scourgeclaw gave a look at Mossflower before making his way over to the newly named deputy.

"I guess we'll see you later?" meowed Scourgeclaw as he turned his gaze to Runningwind.

"Sure you can tell me about the patrol when you get back. I'll save some prey for you." meowed Runningwind. Scourgeclaw nodded to him then padded quickly over to the golden deputy.

"Good morning Scourgeclaw, Mossflower." Lionheart meowed.

"Good morning Lionheart." meowed Mossflower. Scourgeclaw dipped his head in greeting.

"You two will be joining Graypaw, Firepaw, Tigerclaw and myself on a border patrol. Scourgeclaw nodded his head. Hearing that Tigerclaw was joining the patrol made Scourgeclaw uneasy, but he hid his discomfort with a flick of his ear. He noticed discomfort in Mossflower's eyes as well.

"Are you two hungry? You should get something from the fresh-kill pile before we leave." Lionheart meowed. Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"No we're fine" meowed Mossflower.

"Very well we shall wait for the apprentices and Tigercl.."

"No need to wait for me." Scourgeclaw and Lionheart both glanced over at Tigerclaw as he approached the three cats. Mossflower twitched her ear in discomfort. Scourgeclaw's narrowed his eyes as the tom focused his gaze on him.

"Good morning Tigerclaw" Lionheart greeted. Tigerclaw returned the greeting. He gave Scourgeclaw and Mossflower a curt nod which Scourgeclaw returned to him stiffly.

"Good morning Tigerclaw." meowed Mossflower with a slight edge in his voice. The four cats sat waiting for Firepaw and Graypaw to arrive. Tigerclaw growled impatiently and began to pace in front of the gorse tunnel. Lionheart watched him with whiskers twitching in amusement. Scourgeclaw's tail flicked with impatience. Mossflower laid down on the ground. Suddenly a ginger ball of fur and a gray ball of fur came racing over to the entrance.

"We're here" meowed Graypaw. Firepaw's eyes brightened when he saw Scourgeclaw.

"Hi Scourgeclaw, Hello Mossflower" meowed Firepaw. Scourgeclaw couldn't help but twitch his whiskers in amusement at Firepaw. Mossflower purred as she rose to her paws.

"Good morning Firepaw and Graypaw" meowed Scourgeclaw giving each of them a nod.

" Dawn is when training is suppose to start" growled Tigerclaw. Scourgeclaw glanced sideway's at Tigerclaw and glared icily at him. Firepaw and Graypaw lowered their heads and apologized for being late. Mossflower glared venomously at Tigerclaw and looked ready to sink her claws in the tabby warriors pelt.

"Do not be too harsh with them Tigerclaw," meowed Lionheart. He looked over at Firepaw. "Firepaw, you don't have a mentor so Tigerclaw and I will share the duty." Lionheart finished. Scourgeclaw started to say that he could mentor Firepaw, but held his tongue for the moment. Mossflower and Scourgeclaw shared a look. 'I'll discuss it with Bluestar' thought Scourgeclaw. Lionheart rose to his paws and started to head through the gorse tunnel.

"Come on, we should begin our patrol." He called as he enter the tunnel. With one last glare at the apprentices Tigerclaw followed Lionheart through the gorse tunnel. Scourgeclaw glare increased as Tigerclaw vanished from sight. Graypaw headed through the gorse tunnel after Tigerclaw. Mossflower hissed under her breath.

"It was him wasn't it?" Mossflower whispered into his ear. Scourgeclaw only gave her a nod.

"Scourgeclaw are you okay?" asked Firepaw as he gazed curiously at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw glanced at Firepaw before taking off through the gorse tunnel.

"What's wrong with Scourgeclaw?" asked Firepaw. Mossflower shook her head.

"Its not my place to say. Now come before we're left behind." she meowed racing into the tunnel. Firepaw raced after her into the tunnel. They raced up the valley. They climbed over the crest of the ravine. Where the other part of their patrol stood waiting for them. They moved quickly through the forest to a tree shaded area where the ground sloped into a sandy hollow. Lionheart flicked his tail in the direction of the sandy hollow.

"This is the training hollow where apprentices will practice warrior skills." He meowed letting his gaze travel over Scourgeclaw and Firepaw. Firepaw looked excitedly at Graypaw and glanced up at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw gazed down at the sandy hollow and gave a look over at Firepaw. 'It is definitely a good place to train an apprentice' thought Scourgeclaw 'perhaps I can train Firepaw here'.

"Lets go," growled Tigerclaw as he darted into the trees. Lionheart was right on his tail with Scourgeclaw coming up next to him. Mossflower raced right behind Scourgeclaw. Firepaw and Graypaw brought up the rear. They moved through the trees till they reached a narrow Twoleg path.

"Okay Firepaw can you scent anything." Lionheart asked the fiery furred apprentice. Scourgeclaw had already sniffed the air and he had made out the faint scent of a twoleg and his dog.

"A Twoleg and his dog used the path but they have left the area." answered Firepaw. Mossflower purred at Firepaw clearly pleased. Scourgeclaw was impressed by Firepaw and gave him a nod of approval. Lionheart also was impressed and pleased.

"Very good Firepaw." Lionheart meowed. Lionheart lead them across the Twoleg path into a forest of pine trees. Needles litter the ground. The trees stood tall and cover the ground. Scourgeclaw could hear prey scurrying through the undergrowth.

"If we kept traveling in that direction we would run into the Twolegplace, no doubt the three of you know where it is" growled Tigerclaw as he flicked his tail carelessly in one direction while looking at Mossflower, Scourgeclaw and Firepaw. Mossflower's pelt fluffed out in annoyance. Scourgeclaw flexed his claws into the ground but made no comment.

"Come we have more territory to see." meowed Lionheart. He led the patrol further down the pine forest until they reached another Twoleg path and crossed the path back into the oak trees quickly creeping behind the bushes. Scourgeclaw looked back to the pine forest for a moment. He couldn't help but notice that the ThunderClan scent, while present, wasn't as strong as it was in the oak trees, almost as if ThunderClan didn't hunt through the pine forest as often. Scourgeclaw shook these thoughts from his head and focused on the anxiety of the other ThunderClan cats. Mossflower had taken his former position beside Lionheart. Scourgeclaw had taken up the rear and walked silently behind the two apprentices. He overheard Graypaw telling Firepaw that they were approaching RiverClan territory.

"Over there is Sunningrocks" meowed Lionheart. Scourgeclaw peered over at the tall flat rocks.

"That's where Redtail died isn't it?" meowed Firepaw. Graypaw nodded sadly.

"Yes it is, if you breath in deep enough you should be able scent RiverClan from across the river." meowed Lionheart. Firepaw breathed in deeply.

"They are the only Clan who isn't bothered by water and they mainly eat fish." growled Tigerclaw.

"Getting your fur wet isn't so bad." meowed Mossflower as she gazed over at the river. Tigerclaw snorted.

"If you like getting your fur wet then you should go join RiverClan. The next thing you know you'll be eating their smelly fish too." he growled. Mossflower whipped her head around to look at Tigerclaw. She moved until she was nose to nose with dark tabby warrior.

"Just because I don't mind getting my fur wet doesn't mean I'm going to leave Thunderclan and just because you're afraid of getting your paws wet doesn't mean you can accuse a cat of disloyalty." spat Mossflower whipping around so quickly, her tail smacked Tigerclaw in the face. She came over to sit beside Scourgeclaw who touched his tail to her shoulder. Scourgeclaw did his best to hide his amusement at seeing Mossflower hit Tigerclaw with her tail. Firepaw looked unhappily at Tigerclaw. Graypaw eyes were widened in disbelief. Tigerclaw looked ready to say something, but was cut off by Lionheart.

"Lets keep going, we'll head for Fourtrees next." meowed Lionheart leading the group away. Tigerclaw followed growling under his breath. Mossflower huffed a little before bringing up the rear with Scourgeclaw. They moved quickly and quietly down the boundary line toward the direction of Fourtrees. Not long after crossing a shallow stream they came across a slope, that led down to four giant oak trees.

"This is Fourtrees, it is where the four Clans meet in peace during the full moon. Fourtrees is also where the four clans territory meet." meowed Lionheart.

"Then there will be a meeting tonight." meowed Mossflower. Lionheart nodded.

"That's right" meowed Lionheart.

"Windclan lives on the moorland in the territory ahead of us and Shadowclan lives in the darkest parts of the forest." meowed Graypaw. They continued on their journey heading the opposite direction from Riverclan territory. When they the border with Shadowclan Lionheart stopped them again to let three new clanmate a chace to familiarize themselves with the scent of Shadowclan. He brought the trio to the Thunderpath. Firepaw's fur stood on end as a monster drove by. Mossflower flinched and brushed her pelt against Firepaw to calm him down. Scourgeclaw didn't move a muscle, watching with cold eyes as the monster flew pass them.

When they arrived back at camp Firepaw and Graypaw went to get some fresh-kill. Lionheart and Tigerclaw went to tell Bluestar about the patrol. Scourgeclaw and Mossflower went to toward the warrior's den, Where Runningwind was waiting for them with some fresh-kill.

"Hey you two how was the patrol?" he meowed. Mossflower flicked her tail in annoyance.

"It was okay, it would have been better if we hadn't had to go with Tigerclaw." meowed Mossflower. Runningwind looked surprised by how upset Mossflower looked.

"What did Tigerclaw do?" he asked looking concerned at the gray and white warrior. Scourgeclaw decided to speak up.

"He insulted Mossflower by saying she should join Riverclan." Runningwind looked more confused.

"Why would he tell her to join Riverclan?" Mossflower hissed crossly.

"I told him that I didn't mind getting my pelt wet and that it wasn't that bad, than he practically told me to leave." meowed Mossflower. Runnigwind brushed his pelt against Mossflower's.

"I'm sure he didn't mean any of it. Here have some of this squirrel." Runningwind meowed as he pushed some of his squirrel over to Mossflower. She thanked him softly and took a bite out of Runningwind's squirrel. Scourgeclaw bit into a plump vole that Runningwind saved for him. A thought suddenly struck Scourgeclaw as he remembered Fourtrees and the talk of the gathering.

"Are you going to the gathering Runningwind?" asked Scourgeclaw looking curiously at the swift tabby. Runningwind nodded.

"Yes I am, you might get to go to the next one." he meowed looking letting his gaze travel between the two.

"Are Tigerclaw and Lionheart going?" meowed Scourgeclaw.

"Yeah they're going. I promise to tell you about when I get back." meowed Runningwind. Scourgeclaw simply nodded at Runningwind before sharing another look with Mossflower. She gave a sharp nod before going back to eating the squirrel. Bluestar called the cats who were going to the gathering over to the entrance and lead them away. Scourgeclaw watched them go before turning to Mossflower.

"I want to mentor Firepaw, I think I should be allowed to mentor him since I'm the one who started training him."

"I agree, but they know this territory better than we do and they would have a lot to teach him about the Clans." meowed Mossflower. "Maybe after you've been apart of the Clan long enough she'll consider making you his mentor.

"Perhaps, come let's go speak to Firepaw." Mossflower and Scourgeclaw padded over to the apprentice den and called in for Firepaw. A few moments later Firepaw came out of the apprentice den.

"What's up you two?" Firepaw asked as he looked between Scourgeclaw and Mossflower.

"We're going to take you hunting." Firepaw's eyes brighten in excitement.

"When?"

"Now." meowed Scourgeclaw. Turning and heading toward the gorse tunnel. Firepaw bounded exciting after his brother. Mossflower sighed before following the two toward the tunnel. They almost made it to the tunnel the were stopped.

"Hey, where are you three going?"

(Okay I'm going to stop here for now. Who do you think stopped the trio? What do you think Scourgeclaw is going to do with his collar? Mysterious. Also Mossflower doesn't remember Mistyfoot and Stormfur just yet. She also has no clue Oakheart is her father. Kana told her thinks about her mother which helped her remember her, but she doesn't know about her siblings. she will piece that together later. basically Bluestar only told her part of the truth. She doesn't know the true reason Bluestar gave her up or where she would have gone if she had been strong enough to make the journey with her siblings.)


	6. Chapter 6

Okay like I mentioned in the Chapter before I'm going to give you a clue who Goldenclaw's parents are. You might be able to figure out who his mother is in this Chapter if you have read the first series closely enough.

Chapter 6

The trio turned around and saw Goldenclaw approaching them. The warrior looked at the three with a worried expression.

" Hello Goldenclaw we were only taking Firepaw out to hunt." meowed Mossflower. Goldenclaw looked surprised by her answer.

"But the sun has gone down, why don't you just wait till tomorrow?" Goldenclaw meowed. Scourgeclaw opened his mouth to tell the golden warrior that he didn't need to know anything, when Mossflower covered his muzzle with her tail.

"Scourgeclaw was going to show him how to hunt at night. Scourgeclaw use to hunt at night and thought it would be useful to teach Firepaw how to hunt at night." she mewed softly. Goldenclaw nodded.

"Oh I understand, would you mind if I came with you?" Scourgeclaw looked uncomfortable, but Mossflower agreed to let him come.

The four cats headed toward the sandy hollow. Scourgeclaw brought up the rear, while Goldenclaw and Firepaw walked side by side leading the way. Mossflower padded along a few pawsteps behind them. She dropped back to speak with Scourgeclaw.

"What's wrong now?" she meowed with a sigh. Scourgeclaw looked incredulously at her.

"What do you mean what's wrong? He's what's wrong." hissed Scourgeclaw under his breath as he glared at the back of Goldenclaw's head. Mossflower sighed again.

"I know you didn't want to bring him, but we couldn't afford not to." Scourgeclaw looked at her confused.

"What do you mean by that." hissed Scourgeclaw.

"It looks less suspicious of us." meowed Mossflower.

"We're aren't doing anything that would be considered suspicious."

"We may not be doing anything suspicious, but that doesn't mean we didn't look like we were. In fact I bet Goldenclaw thought that we were leaving the Clan." Scourgeclaw thought about how it might have looked to the golden warrior and realized that Mossflower was right. The three of them leaving the camp so late at night made looked as though they were either leaving or secretly planning something. Scourge sighed and resigned to the fact that it was better to have Goldenclaw with them, than have the whole Clan suspicious of them.

When they arrived at the training hollow Goldenclaw and Mossflower moved off to watch Scourgeclaw and Firepaw.

"Alright Firepaw, listen up. Hunting at night isn't easy. The only light we get is from the moon, but our prey has a hard time seeing in the dark. We don't have to be as cautious about being seen, but we have to worry about being heard or scented. Right now I want to work on your hunting crouch before we do anything else. Now I want you to watch what I do." Scourgeclaw meowed as he got into a crouch and crept carefully across the sandy hollow. Firepaw watched him closely before making his first attempt at the crouch. Scourgeclaw snorted loudly.

"What have I told you about moving softly? Do you want a mouse to here you or feel you coming? Now try it again." meowed Scourge.

As the two practiced Mossflower and Goldenclaw watched them closely.

"Scourgeclaw is a good teacher, a little harsh, but I can see that Firepaw respects him and hangs on his words." Goldenclaw meowed with an impressed look on his face.

"Though he may hide it, Scourgeclaw does care about Firepaw." Mossflower meowed. Goldenclaw nodded.

"He's a good brother. I wish I could have been as good of a brother to my own brother." Goldenclaw's eyes became clouded with grief. Mossflower eyes widened.

"You had a brother?" Goldenclaw nodded the look of sadness not leaving his eyes.

"Yes, his name was Wildkit, he had so much energy, I was the only one who could understand him. One day he went missing, we don't know what happened to him. The clan searched for him, but we never found him." Mossflower placed her tail on Goldenclaw's shoulder to comfort the golden warrior. Mossflower thought for a moment about herself. 'Did I have siblings?' Mossflower thought for a moment. 'I did, the elder's said Bluestar's **kits **went missing. What happen to them? Bluestar should have given them to Kana also, so why didn't she?' Mossflower hid her troubled thoughts and settled for watching the training session. After many attempts Firepaw seemed to be getting the hang of stalking. Scourgeclaw nodded in approval.

"Alright lets go back to camp." meowed Scourgeclaw. Firepaw gave him a look of disappointment.

"I thought we were going to hunt?" Scourgeclaw sighed.

"We were, but its too late tonight to go hunting and you have training early tomorrow and I have no doubt Mossflower and I are going to be busy with warrior duties. We all need to be in top form, we wouldn't want the others to think we're lazy kittypets would you?" Firepaw's eyes burned with determination as he shook his head no. Mossflower looked over at Goldenclaw, and hoped the golden warrior wasn't offended by Scourgeclaw's comment. Surprisingly Goldenclaw seemed amused by Scourgeclaw and his eye's glowed with humor.

The four left the hollow making a quiet journey back to camp. As they padded through the forest, Firepaw broke away from the group and disappeared behind a bramble bush. Mossflower moved to get him, when the fiery apprentice appeared with a mouse hanging from his jaws. Mossflower purred softly, Scourgeclaw gave him a pleased nod and Goldenclaw congratulated him on his first catch. Scourgeclaw decided that they all should bring back a piece of prey. They spread out to look for more prey. The group came back together with three more mice, two shrews and a vole. When the group arrived back at the camp, the first thing they saw were the cats who had gone to the gathering in the clearing. Bluestar's eyes widened in alarm when she saw the four enter the camp, she moved quickly over to them.

"What's wrong? Why were the four of you out of camp so late?" Bluestar demanded. Scourgeclaw and Mossflower shared a look. They went to explain, but were stopped by Goldenclaw.

"Its not their fault Bluestar, they are use to being active at night and they were restless so I decide to take them to the training hollow to teach Firepaw how to stalk prey and it paid off" Goldenclaw meowed as he nodded his head at Firepaw's catch. Bluestar looked at her three newest clanmates carefully, then she nodded her head with a sigh.

"I can understand that, but it would have been better if you had found something to do in camp rather than run off into the forest." Mossflower quickly covered Scourgeclaw's muzzle, expecting the dark warrior to say something he would later regret. She was surprised when Firepaw spoke up instead.

"We didn't do anything bad, all we did was practice on my hunting technique. What's wrong with that?" Bluestar sighed.

"Every cat I leave behind is suppose to protect the camp and take care of each other." meowed Bluestar. Goldenclaw moved to stand beside Firepaw.

"I'm sorry Bluestar, don't be angry with them, I should have come up with something for them to do in camp." Goldenclaw meowed. Mossflower wore a look of surprise on her face. Scourgeclaw looked at Goldenclaw with suspicion. Bluestar nodded.

"I'm not mad, just be more careful next time, and get some rest " Bluestar meowed as she moved toward her den. Goldenclaw led them over to the fresh-kill pile. As the four put their catches in the fresh-kill pile, Graypaw and Runningwind came up to the group. Graypaw led Firepaw back to the apprentice den, after the fiery apprentice said goodnight to his brother and Mossflower. Runningwind moved to stand beside Mossflower their pelts brushing each other..

"Where did you three go while we were gone?" He meowed after looking closely at each of them. Goldenclaw told Runningwind the same thing he told Bluestar. Scourgeclaw was suspicious of Goldenclaw, he couldn't understand why the golden warrior would take the blame for something that wasn't his fault. As he listened to the Goldenclaw's explanation of their absence, he started to notice just how close Runningwind was to Mossflower. Scourgeclaw inwardly snorted 'why should I care if he's trying to get close to her?' When Goldenclaw had finished his explanation he decided to head off to the warriors den.

"Its good you all were okay, we had just come back from the gathering." meowed Runningwind. Mossflower's eyes lit up

"Really? Did any thing happen there?" Runningwind shook his head.

"No, they only talked about how well prey was running and how many kits were born. Things like that" He meowed.

"Well I'm going to get some sleep, do you want to go on dawn patrol tomorrow?" Scourgeclaw mewed. Mossflower nodded.

"Sure, I'll go tell Lionheart we will go on the dawn patrol." Runningwind meowed as he bounded off to find the deputy. Scourgeclaw turned his attention to Mossflower.

"Want to go get some rest?" asked Scourgeclaw as he started toward the warrior's den.

"Yeah, but I'm just going to wait for Runningwind to come back." meowed Mossflower. Scourgeclaw shrugged. He padded into the warriors den, and immediately felt eyes on him.

"Well if it isn't the kittypet back from his little stroll. Did you enjoy not going to the gathering?" meowed Longtail. Mousefur had an amused expression on her face. Scourgeclaw opened his mouth to retort back when Goldenclaw beat him to it.

"Yes because kittypets hunt at night and bring prey back to their nests to eat." meowed Goldenclaw. "He's a way better hunter than you Longtail, After all he didn't have to go out and bring back prey for the Clan so late at night, but he did." Longtail huffed and curled into his nest. Scourgeclaw growled under his breath, but said nothing. 'I don't need his protection. I want to be back with my cats where I get the respect I deserve, but that won't do, not yet at least.' Scourgeclaw gave a nod to Goldenclaw before curling into his nest and falling asleep.

Two moons had passed since the three had joined ThunderClan. Scourgeclaw was out hunting in the middle of the pine forest. He still pondered why ThunderClan's scent wasn't as strong in this part of the forest as it was among the oak trees. He sniffed through the undergrowth and scented a rabbit. He raced quickly after the rabbit as it charged through the forest. He was gaining ground on the rabbit and was ready to pounce, when it darted into a thorn tunnel. He moved carefully into the thorn tunnel and paused to look around. Scourgeclaw felt as though he had walked into another camp. The rabbit he had been chasing was long forgotten as his curiosity got the better of him. He stood in the clearing an looked around. He walked over to some thorny bushes their was an opening big enough for a cat to get into. There was soft grass that covered the ground underneath the thorn bushes. The space was big enough for many cats to lay in. He walked out of the tunnel and moved to another bush that had thorny brambles surrounding it. The bush in the center had soft earth underneath it. He moved away from there and padded over to a tree stump that had a hole in one side. He looked inside and found that the ground was sandy beneath his paws. Padded all around the potential camp and thought it would make a good home for a Clan of cats and briefly wondered why ThunderClan didn't use the camp or hunt in this part of the forest. 'I wonder if they even know about this camp?' he thought briefly. He padded out of the thorn tunnel intending to get back to hunting when he heard a growl to the right of him. He swung his head around to face the creature who had made the noise. It was a small gray dog it wasn't much bigger than a cat. 'I was going to finish my hunt and tell Firepaw about this interesting find, but I suppose a scrap with a dog could be fun.' Scourgeclaw thought with a slight purr.

Scourgeclaw carried a squirrel and two mice into the ThunderClan camp. He placed his catches into the fresh-kill pile before looking around for Firepaw, so he could show his little brother the camp he found. He had considered telling Mossflower, but she had been spending so much time with Runningwind he didn't know if he could trust her not to say anything to him. He spotted his brother's fiery pelt next to a scruffy old she cat with matted looking fur, that he had never seen before. Before he could walk over to the two Whitestorm moved over to him. Scourgeclaw sent a questioning look over to the white warrior.

"Who is that cat with Firepaw?" Whitestorm sighed.

"That's Yellowfang she was once the ShadowClan medicine cat, but apparently they have exiled her. Firepaw apparently found her in the forest and fed her without asking permission from Bluestar. So Bluestar decided to punish him by making him personally see to Yellowfang's needs. He has to hunt for her, get her bedding and treat her for any ticks or fleas she may have." Scourgeclaw groaned and shook his head. 'Well that's a waste, I won't be able to tell him about my find now that he has to look after that old mangy lump of bones.' he inwardly hissed. While he was deep in his thoughts, a soft gentle scent waft into his nose. He felt a soft pelt brush against his flank, Spottedleaf had come up beside him.

"Don't be angry with him, he meant well, but he didn't think the consequences of his actions all the way through." she mewled softly. Scourgeclaw sighed as he looked at the pretty tortoiseshell. He could tell that Spottedleaf cared for his brother a little more than a medicine cat should, but he saw no real harm in her infatuation.

"Oh and I wanted to say sorry and maybe Bluestar will consider you for one of Goldenflowers's kits." Scourgeclaw looked confused .

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Bluestar made Firepaw her apprentice. I know how much you wanted Bluestar to make him your apprentice." Spottedleaf meowed softly. Scourgeclaw seethed a little on the inside. Spottedleaf touched her nose to Scourgeclaw's shoulder. "You'd make a great mentor, so I'm sure Bluestar will give you an apprentice." 'I wanted Firepaw as my apprentice, this will set me back a bit.' he growled in his head

He nodded and thanked Spottedleaf before he padded over to his brother and Yellowfang. The grizzled old she-cat cracked open an eye, from he makeshift nest, as he approached them. Firepaw's eyes brightened as he looked up from bringing Yellowfang a mouse.

"Hi Scourgeclaw, did you hear what happened?" asked Firepaw. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Yes I heard, about her and about Bluestar making you her apprentice." Scourgeclaw meowed.

"Bluestar also mentioned that WindClan has disappeared from their territory. Shadowclan has been hunting in there territory." Scourgeclaw looked suprised by this news and wondered when the Clan had left the forest. Yellowfang turned her bright orange eyes on Scourgeclaw.

"You're a warrior? I thought you were an apprentice coming over to have a chat with this flame furred fur-ball." Scourgeclaw's hackles stood on end as he turned his gaze to Yellowfang."

"I may be small, but I've dealt with creatures far bigger then you." meowed with an icy tone. Yellowfang's eyes seemed to glow brighter as she looked closely at Scourgeclaw.

"And here I thought that I would hate myself for getting caught by a ThunderClan apprentice." she meowed in amusement. Scourgeclaw felt his tail twitch.

"Do I have to keep an eye on you Scourgeclaw?" meowed a familiar voice behind him. Scourgeclaw glanced back and saw the familiar white and gray pelt.

"No Mossflower, besides you would be to busy keeping an eye on Runningwind." He mewled while flexing his right paw. Mossflower nudged him a little roughly, but said nothing in response. Yellowfang looked at her closely. Mossflower twitched a little under her gaze.

"I've never seen you before, yet you remind me of someone I just can't place who." meowed Yellowfang. Mossflower gave a glance at Scourgeclaw, but continued to say nothing as she watched the old she-cat. Before Yellowfang could say anything else, Darkstripe padded up to the group.

"I believe Bluestar only wanted one kittypet to look after that old bag of bones, but if you three think that you'd be better off caring for her than I'll make sure to let Bluestar know." he sneered as he watched the group. Firepaw flexed his claws, Mossflower's eyes flashed heatedly. Scourgeclaw padded until he was almost nose to nose with Darkstripe.

"I think you've forgotten that these kittypets bested you and two of your clanmates in an almost fair challenge, so unless you want a repeat of last time, you should go find something to do rather than just sitting there bothering us." Darkstripe sniffed

"As if, the only reason you three even won was because your collars came off, otherwise you would have run back to your twolegs." He hissed padding off. Scourgeclaw sneered as he watched the dark warrior pad away. He heard Mossflower mutter 'good riddance' under her breath. Firepaw sat down lashing his tail angrily. Scourgeclaw touched his tail to Firepaw's ears. Yellowfang spoke up loud enough for the other three to look at her.

"If you don't mind this old lump of fur and bones would like to get some rest if you don't mind." she meowed. Causing the other three to twitch their whiskers in amusement.

(Okay stopping here, I think this is a good spot to stop the story. Yay Yellowfang is in camp. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.)


	7. Chapter 7

**(Okay like I said in my other story, i've been swamped with school and i've been sick these last few weeks so chapters are taking a while to get i will get to the next chapter soon. Also i made a small adjustment in chapter 6 and i added a new name onto the allegiances section in one of the other clans.) **

**Chapter **

Four sunrises had passed since Yellowfang had come to camp, Scourgeclaw was stretching just outside of the warriors den. Lionheart had called out the dawn patrol so, he was free to hunt for the day. He moved to the fresh-kill pile and pulled out a plump mouse and moved to lay near the entrance of the warriors den to eat it. As he ate began to think about Windclan's disappearance. He had been curious about it since Firepaw mentioned it to him, he had hoped to go and see the territory for himself, but he hadn't been able to get away long enough to look. He licked the last scrap of mouse off his jaws before padding out of the camp. He knew that Tigerclaw had taken out Firepaw, Ravenpaw and Graypaw for their first assessment. He decided to follow his ginger brother to see how he would do in the assessment and to make sure Tigerclaw wouldn't do anything to Firepaw. He didn't care what Bluestar said, there wasn't anything she could do or say to make him trust Tigerclaw.

Scourgeclaw could tell that leaf-fall had come there was a chill in the air and he fluffed his pelt out to keep out the chill. He made his way to the sandy hollow. When he arrived at the hollow, Tigerclaw was sitting in front of a tree speaking to the apprentices. Tigerclaw sent Graypaw to hunt near the owl tree, Firepaw to hunt in pine forest near the twolegplace and Ravenpaw in Snakerocks. 'Why Snakerocks I thought Ravenpaw wasn't that great of hunter?" Scourgeclaw thought narrowing his eyes in suspicion. He watched the apprentices split up racing off to their various hunting locations. Scourgeclaw moved off to follow Firepaw keeping a nice distance between the two of them. Firepaw pounce on a plump unsuspecting mouse and he quickly buried it continuing on with his hunt. Scourgeclaw felt as though he wasn't the only one watching Firepaw hunt, but he couldn't smell or see Tigerclaw. He shook off the feeling and continued to follow Firepaw watching as he took out a sparrow that had been pecking at a seed. As he observed his brother, he was impressed with the prey his brother had caught. He noticed a flash of black and white near by and quickly realized that Firepaw must have seen it as well because he charged for it and barreled the cat onto the ground. Scourgeclaw was proud to see him attack the kittypet that had strayed into the clan's territory, that is until he realized that the kittypet Smudge. Scourgeclaw sat watching Firepaw talking to Smudge with look of disgust. He couldn't believe that his brother was actually talking to that useless lump of black and white fur. He was watching them from behind a pine tree and could tell from Smudge's scent that he was no longer a tom. Scourgeclaw remembered that cats that were no longer toms had no desire to fight or protect what was theirs. He started to move toward the duo, when a scent caught his nose that caused his fur to crawl. 'Tigerclaw' Scourgeclaw thought crossly. He had been avoiding the tabby warrior ever since his talk with Bluestar, but it seemed that she was right about Tigerclaw not remembering him. Scourgeclaw honestly didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing that the dark tabby warrior didn't remember him. He did know that Tigerclaw would use this encounter as an excuse to call Firepaw soft and untrustworthy. Scourgeclaw raced from his hiding place and charged straight for the two cats. Smudge's eyes widened and he backed up as he saw Scourgeclaw heading for them. Firepaw turned around in shock to see Scourgeclaw. He came to a stop right next to Firepaw and spat crossly at Smudge.

"Get out of here kittypet, go home now." he growled threateningly. Smudge only nodded before tearing away back to his twoleg nest. Firepaw whipped his head around to look angrily at Scourgeclaw who snorted after Smudge left, Scourgeclaw began to walk off and Firepaw stormed after him.

"Listen Scourgeclaw, I know you've never liked Smudge but that's no reason to treat him so terribly." hissed Firepaw. Scourgeclaw rounded on him.

"Were you aware that Tigerclaw was watching you and Smudge talking together? Of course not because you weren't even thinking about your assessment." growled Scourgeclaw. Firepaw's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"H-He saw us?" Scourgeclaw gave a sharp nod. Firepaw shivered a little.

"Yes he saw you and now I have no doubt he'll tell Bluestar and who knows what she'll think of this little incident."

"What should I do?"

"Go back to your assessment, it's the only thing you can do at this point. Make sure you stay away from the this side of the forest for a while unless Bluestar says otherwise." meowed Scourgeclaw. Firepaw nodded and ran back into the forest. Scourgeclaw circled around to find the exact spot Tigerclaw had been watching. He followed the tabby warrior's scent trail and found him observing Graypaw, as the gray apprentice pounced on an unsuspecting vole. He watched as the tabby warrior padded off back toward the sandy hollow. 'What about Ravenpaw? Did he even watch him?' thought Scourgeclaw.

"You were worried weren't you?" Scourgeclaw turned looked back to see Mossflower padding up behind him.

"What are you doing out here? Where's Runningwind?" Scourgeclaw mewled. Mossflower brushed her fur against Scourgeclaw warming him against the chill in the air.

"Why wouldn't I be here I wanted to know how Firepaw was doing and I realize that I haven't been spending as much time with you and Firepaw and I wanted to make up for it." she meowed softly.

"Then maybe you can help with our latest problem." Mossflower looked at him in confusion.

"What problem?" Scourgeclaw sighed.

"Firepaw ran into Smudge during his assessment."

"What's wrong with that? I mean I know that as warriors we must reject the life of a kittypet but we both know Smudge and we know that he wouldn't try to do anything and he certainly wouldn't hunt here." she meowed.

"Yes but Tigerclaw didn't know that when he saw them sharing tongues near the twolegplace." meowed Scourgeclaw. Mossflower looked surprised and worried.

"That isn't good at all, I'll talk to Bluestar and make sure that she realizes that Firepaw is a loyal apprentice." Scourgeclaw sighed and looked back at the direction Tigerclaw went.

"Yes hopefully the clan won't think less of him, but I'm suspicious of Tigerclaw." Mossflower sighed with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Scourgeclaw I know that you had a bad encounter with Tigerclaw as a kit, but you can't just suspect him of doing something wrong for no real reason."

"Tigerclaw has been acting strange, particularly toward Ravenpaw." Mossflower looked questioningly at Scourgeclaw.

"What do you mean by strange?"

"Well look at his assessment, Ravenpaw was told to hunt at Snakerocks, you and I both know that Ravenpaw isn't that great of a hunter, so why would he send him to Snakerocks?" asked Scourgeclaw.

"That is strange."

"Also when this whole assessment began I had been watching Firepaw hunt, but my instincts were telling me that I wasn't the only one watching Firepaw, but I hadn't seen nor smelt Tigerclaw until Firepaw started talking with Smudge." meowed Scourgeclaw.

"Well I'm sure the whole point of assessing the apprentices is to keep them guessing whether or not they are being watched, also why would it matter if he was watching Firepaw through the start of the assessment?" she meowed.

"Because, he just went back to the sandy hollow where he gave the three their assignment. He was just watching Graypaw a moment ago he hasn't even gone to check on Ravenpaw." Mossflower looked surprised by his answer.

"Are you sure?" Scourgeclaw nodded with an exasperated sigh.

"Yes I'm sure when have my instincts been wrong?" Mossflower thought back to time when she and Scourgeclaw and taken a walk through the twolegplace together and had almost been attacked by a dog, whose scent had been overpowered by rotting crowfood, that neither of them had picked up his scent. Mossflower sighed 'If it hadn't been for Scourgeclaw's instincts telling him not to go down that alley way we would have been ambushed.' she thought before answering him.

"Your right we'll keep an eye on him, but we won't approach him about anything, right?" Scourgeclaw snorted.

"Of course I won't approach him about anything. Now if you'll excuse me I need to hunt for our Clan." he meowed moving away from her. The loss of Mossflower's warm fur against his own fur seemed to unsettle him a bit, but he shook it off before racing toward the pine forest. When he had reach the pine forest he continued through the forest till he found the potential camp. He crawled into the thorn tunnel making his way through the grassy clearing. He stopped by a hollowed out log that was wedged in between two boulders. He crawled into the log and brought out the items he had stashed within it. He pulled out his collar, that he moved to the potential camp two sunrises ago, and a few dog teeth that he had gotten from the dog he fought the same day he found the camp. He carefully picked up a tooth and pushed it through his collar until it was stuck. He continued to do this with the three other teeth he had gathered in his fight. When he was finished he slid the collar around his neck and could imagine just how frightening he must look. 'What would my clanmates think if they saw me like this?' he thought smugly. He could just see the frightened yet admiring faces, he could see his brother looking at him with pride and admiration and Mossflower looked… Scourgeclaw frowned he hadn't really thought about what the gray and white warrior would think of him if she knew about all that he was planning. He sighed, he hadn't realized how much not being around Mossflower would upset him. He knew he wasn't jealous of Runningwind but, he still missed having her around him.

When he arrived back at camp Firepaw, Ravenpaw and Graypaw were placing their catches in the fresh-kill pile and then they headed toward the apprentice den. Scourgeclaw carried the his two mice, vole and a shrew to the fresh-kill pile. After catching Firepaw's eye he moved to speak to Bluestar, only to stop as he saw Tigerclaw heading toward the three apprentices. He hissed under his breath and continued on his way to Bluestar.

"Bluestar, can I speak to you?" asked Scourgeclaw

"Yes, what is wrong?"

"Its about Firepaw's assessment."

"Yes I just sent Tigerclaw to go get him."

"I was watching him and he was doing fine until he ran into and old friend of his." Bluestar's eyes widen in surprise.

"A friend of his? Tigerclaw made it seem as though he didn't know the cat at all and didn't fight him because he was a kittypet." Scourgeclaw flicked his tail with agitation. Bluestar looked gently at Scourgeclaw and touched her tail to his shoulder.

"Scourgeclaw I won't judge Firepaw unfairly, I'm going to get his side of the story. Don't worry I won't make him do anything he doesn't wish to do." Scourgeclaw inwardly hissed but outwardly gave Bluestar a nod and turned to face Firepaw as he approached.

"You wanted to see me Bluestar?" asked Firepaw as he glanced at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw caught his eye for a moment before looking back to Bluestar. Bluestar fixed Firepaw with her stare.

"Yes I wanted to see you. I wanted to ask you about this kittypet I heard about from Tigerclaw, did you know him?" Firepaw looked guiltily at his paws before speaking up.

"Yes he was a friend of mine from my kithood I didn't think I would ever see him again and he was sad when I told him I was leaving." Bluestar nodded.

"Yes its hard to leave behind good friends but Firepaw, you must understand that you cannot have a paw in both worlds. You must be loyal to ThunderClan." She glanced closely at Scourgeclaw as she spoke those words. Scourgeclaw glanced at her but kept his eyes on Firepaw

"I understand Bluestar, I never meant to cause trouble for the clan." meowed Firepaw.

"Good and I know that you caught a great amount of prey during you assessment the clan will eat well tonight. I think you Graypaw and Ravenpaw should come to the gathering." Firepaw's eyes widened.

"Really? Thank you Bluestar, but what about Scourgeclaw and Mossflower?" Scourgeclaw inwardly held his breath he and Mossflower hadn't been chosen to go to a gathering since the three had joined the camp. Though he hadn't wanted to go to the gathering without Firepaw with him, he had been curious about the other Clans and he wanted to see them so he could observe them.

"They will be coming as well they have worked hard as warriors and will join me at the gathering tomorrow." Firepaw eyes brightened with excitement he quickly thanked Bluestar before racing off to tell his denmates the good news. Scourgeclaw looked directly at Bluestar.

"I appreciate you allowing Mossflower and I to go to the Gathering tomorrow I didn't think we would be going." Bluestar purred softly.

"You both have earned it I'll let you have the pleasure of telling Mossflower the news." Scourgeclaw dipped respectively to Bluestar before making his way to the warriors den. Willowpelt was outside the warriors den eating a squirrel. She looked up when Scourgeclaw approached.

"Hello Scourgeclaw, would you like to share my squirrel?" she mewled. Scourgeclaw felt his stomach rumble before nodding and settling down next to Willowpelt. While he shared the squirrel with Willowpelt he thought of the Gathering that was suppose to happen tomorrow. He knew that this gathering would be an interesting one since the WindClan cats were missing. He looked up as Mossflower came through the entrance of camp with Runningwind right behind her, both were carrying some prey in their jaws.

Mossflower saw Firepaw talking to his friends just outside the apprentice den. She spotted her mother sitting just in front of her den speaking to Lionheart. she started to move toward them when Scourgeclaw caught her eye and shook his head. 'But why doesn't he want me to say anything to her? Did he already talk to her?' Runningwind brushed his pelt against Mossflower gently.

"Are you okay? you look upset about something." he meowed softly. Mossflower purred softly at him.

"I'm fine I just need to speak to Scourgeclaw."

"Okay, I'll take our catches to the fresh-kill pile and bring both of us something to eat." he meowed picking up the prey they caught and padding off to the fresh-kill pile. Mossflower padded over to stand next to Scourgeclaw. She turned her attention to Willowpelt.

"Hello, Willowpelt how was your patrol?" she asked. Willowpelt purred

"It was fine, no trouble from the other Clans so far." she meowed

"That's good I wonder who Bluestar will take to the gathering tomorrow?" Mossflower meowed. Willowpelt shrugged.

"Its her decision, no doubt this will be an important meeting if Windclan has really disappeared, well I'm going to rest now." Willowpelt mewled giving both Scourgeclaw and Mossflower a nod before moving into the warriors den. After she had left Mossflower leaned in closer to Scourgeclaw.

" What's going on with Firepaw? Is Bluestar going to punish him?" she asked quickly. Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"No, I spoke with her and while she isn't happy he spoke to Smudge she can sympathize with why he did it and that is the only reason he isn't going to be punished by her." Mossflower sighed in relief.

"Well that's good at least, what do you think of this gathering that's coming up? Do you think WindClan will show up?"

"I have a better question do you think we'll be going?" Mossflower nodded.

"I think so yes, I'm not sure about Firepaw, but you and I could very well be going."

"Well I doubt it after all this is an important gathering that is going to happen and the right cats need to be there." hissed Mousefur as she glared at Scourgeclaw and Mossflower.

"Now Mousefur, Mossflower and Scourgeclaw have proved that they are loyal cats and I think that Bluestar will take them to this gathering." meowed Runningwind as he set down a vole in front of Mossflower.

"Well I'll have you know Mousefur that Bluestar told me herself that Mossflower and I are going to the gathering." Scourgeclaw mewled as flicked dirt from between his claws. Mousefur scoffed as she padded into the warriors den. Runningwind sighed as he settled next to Mossflower. "You'll have to forgive my sister, its going to take her a bit more time to trust you two. Hey Scourgeclaw where did you run off to today?" Mossflower watched as Scourgeclaw seemed to stiffen slightly before relaxing.

"I went hunting and I also went to keep an eye on Firepaw." He meowed. Mossflower could tell that Scourgeclaw was hiding something but, kept it to herself. She focused on the vole that Runningwind had brought her and started to devour the plump rodent. As she finished her meal Runningwind rasped his tongue against her fur and she briskly returned the favor. She saw Scourgeclaw roll his eyes before stretching and padding toward the den. Mossflower stood to follow him with Runningwind trailing behind her. She climbed into her nest and curled up with Runningwind's fur brushing against her. She purred softly as she fell into a nice comforting sleep.

(Well thats it for this chapter like i said i've had a rough last few weeks hopefully i will get a new chapter up soon. The Gathering is next look forward to that.)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mossflower walked through the trees heading for Fourtrees. Scourgeclaw was padding along beside her, she could tell that he was excited about the gathering from the look in his eyes, even though his face remained neutral. She looked behind her and spotted Firepaw, Graypaw and Ravenpaw murmuring excitedly to each other wondering what would happen at the gathering. She sighed thinking about how Runningwind was left behind in camp, she missed his company but was happy to spend time with Scourgeclaw again, she hadn't realized how much she missed his company. She glanced over and spotted Rosetail, a light ginger tabby she-cat with a pinkish-orange tail, who was speaking to Whitestorm. While she watched them, she saw Whitestorm turn his head to stare at her unblinkingly for a moment, she noticed his eyes widened slightly as he looked at her before turning his attention back to Rosetail. 'That's odd' Mossflower thought to herself. She saw Goldenclaw murmuring to Frostfur who was padding along next to the golden warrior. She glanced around and noticed that the other cats looked relaxed, yet eager to get to Fourtrees.

They made it to the top of a slope, and peered down into Fourtrees. The apprentices looked excitedly down the slope naming warriors that they could see from the other Clans. Mossflower looked down and saw a cat that she believed to be the ShadowClan deputy, Blackfoot, talking to a silver tabby tom. She felt Scourgeclaw stiffen beside her. She glanced over at him and noticed that his eyes glittered with surprise and excitement and a tiny flicker of something else that she couldn't quite figure out. 'I guess he's more excited about this gathering then I thought.' Mossflower peered around the clearing. She could slightly make out the scents of ShadowClan and RiverClan but, there wasn't a trace of WindClan.

"Do you think anyone from WindClan will come?" she murmured to Scourgeclaw. He shrugged.

"It's unlikely, but there is a chance they'll come. Now we need to be quiet Bluestar's getting ready to lead us down. " Mossflower looked over to where her mother stood with her tail raised . Her mother gave the Clan the signal and they raced down the slope. They paused just outside the clearing before heading in and looking around. Mossflower was impressed by the amount of warriors present the gathering. She could barely believe that cats present were a from two different clans and that they were only some of their clans.

"Wow its surprising how many cats there are here right Scourgeclaw?" she breathed. She received no answer. She turned her head to see that her companion had disappeared. She glanced around the clearing to see if she could spot him, but had no luck. She was about to go back up the slope to see if he had stayed up there when a voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Greetings, you must be new I've never seen you at a gathering." Mossflower turned around to see a dark gray tom with battle scarred ears standing in front of her. She could tell from the tom's scent that he was a RiverClan warrior, but despite this she felt oddly comfortable in his presence.

"Yes I am, my name is Mossflower and this is my first gathering." The tom nodded his head.

"I suspected so, my name is Stonefur, its nice to meet you. I was wondering if there was someone you were looking for?" She nodded in return.

"Its nice to meet you too Stonefur and yes I was looking for my clanmate, who I thought was with me, but he must have wondered off without me noticing." she sighed.

"Well, he's probably going over to meet with other cats after all this is the best time to see the other clans and meet the other cats."

"Your probably right, I should be meeting with cats of other clans right now, I'm sure I'll see him later."

"Yes well it was nice talking with you but I should probably go" he meowed

"Yes as do I" she meowed. They exchanged respectful nods before going their separate ways. Mossflower couldn't help but glance back at the dark RiverClan tom, instantly feeling that comforting feeling again. 'Why do I feel so comfortable around him, when I just met him and on top of that he's a RiverClan cat ?'Mossflower shook her head clear and spotted Tigerclaw talking amongst a group of warriors telling about his battle with RiverClan, she could just make bits of the story that she already knew because the story had spread around camp. She saw Firepaw watching the dark tabby warrior from a distance and padded over to him.

"Hey Firepaw" Firepaw's eyes brightened when she padded up to him.

"Hi Mossflower, what are you up to?"

"I've been looking for your brother but I haven't seen him since we entered the clearing." she sighed. Firepaw shrugged.

"He probably just needed some time to get use to the number of cats here I'm sure will see him soon."

"I suppose your right, I smell Graypaw and Spottedleaf close by lets go see what their doing." she meowed leading him toward the scent. Firepaw nodded and followed closely after her. She couldn't help but noticed how happy Firepaw looked after she mentioned Spottedleaf's name. 'I wonder if he likes her, she's a very pretty cat, but that doesn't change the fact that she's a medicine cat. I may have to keep an eye on him.' she thought briefly. They found the two sitting amongst a group of RiverClan cats. A young light gray tom with fluffy tail was talking with Graypaw. Mossflower noticed that Firepaw had a look of agitation and she wondered where it had came from. She noticed that Spottedleaf was talking to two RiverClan warriors that were sitting on either side of her, but realized quickly that that wasn't the reason for Firepaw's unease. A young mottled gray tom was staring rather intently at Spottedleaf. She could tell that the tom must be an apprentice and from his scent she could tell he was RiverClan. She looked back over to Firepaw and brushed her tail over his ears purring softly.

"Come on lets talk to Graypaw." Firepaw nodded and padded over to sit next to Graypaw. Mossflower padded up to sit next to him.

"Hello Graypaw, whose this?" she asked looking at the light gray tom.

"My name is Troutpaw, This is my first gathering and that's my brother Shellpaw" he meowed with a flick of his tail over at the mottled gray tom. Now that she had a closer look she could see the resemblance between the two cats.

"I'm Firepaw, and this is Mossflower." Firepaw meowed pointing his tail directly at Mossflower. She waved her tail in greeting. Troutpaw gave a respectable nod to Mossflower.

"I wonder what is keeping WindClan, do you think they are going to show up soon?" Troutpaw asked.

"They still have time." meowed Graypaw.

"Is that Runningnose, ShadowClan's new medicine cat ?" asked Troutpaw pointing his tail in the direction of a small gray and white cat.

"I don't understand why he's there medicine cat, look at his nose, he can't even cure his own cold." meowed Graypaw. Mossflower looked over at the ShadowClan medicine. She heard that he was talking about herbs that were no longer around because of the twolegs. The cats sitting around began to voice their displeasure.

"If TigerClan were still around the twolegs wouldn't have dared to set foot in our territory." growled a silver tabby. Spottedleaf came to sit beside Mossflower and murmured in her ear.

"If the great cats were still here we wouldn't be." Mossflower nodded I agreement.

"Who were TigerClan?" asked a little tabby apprentice sitting near Firepaw.

Graypaw started to explain how there were three great Clans that ruled the territory they now lived on, He was able to explain who TigerClan were, though he was having a hard time remembering the others.

"Don't you youngsters know your history?" Lionheart meowed from behind them. Goldenclaw was with him, giving Graypaw a look of amusement.

"Really Graypaw? I wasn't aware that there was a Great Clan named SpottyClan." he mewled in amusement. Mossflower and Spottedleaf purred in amusement. Graypaw sniffed.

"I think he meant LeopardClan, Goldenclaw." Lionheart purred.

"It's a shame that these apprentices don't know their history." meowed Goldenclaw

"LeopardClan were large horse sized cats that were very swift with golden pelts and black spots. We should be thankful to all the great Clans." meowed Lionheart.

"But, why?" asked the young apprentice.

"Because each of us has a trace of every great clan in us. TigerClan the ability to hunt at night, from LionClan we get our enjoyment of the sun and from LeopardClan gave us an ability to be swift and efficient hunters. How old are you? You look small for an apprentice. " meowed Lionheart, Mossflower looked over at the young apprentice and felt that Lionheart was right, the apprentice was rather small. 'He looks like he may have just turned four moons old.'

"He's old enough. Leave him alone" growled a ginger she-cat who was making her way to Lionheart, a gray and white apprentice followed closely behind her. The gray and white apprentice went to sit next to the smaller tabby apprentice.

"I meant nothing by it Amberpelt." meowed Lionheart calmly. Amberpelt moved until she was almost nose to nose with Lionheart.

"Oh really? Why do you need to know his age? He wouldn't be at a gathering if he wasn't old enough. Or do you think its okay to pick on an apprentice just because he's so small?" she hissed. Mossflower moved to stand beside Lionheart.

"There's no need for this, Lionheart was merely asking him a question, one that he didn't have to answer, there's no need to get so defensive." meowed Mossflower. Amberpelt sniffed glaring at Mossflower crossly.

"Well next time he can keep his nose out of ShadowClan's business. Come one Littlepaw, you too Pinepaw." she hissed whipping around quickly and walking away with the two apprentices following closely behind her. Mossflower glanced at Lionheart. She noticed Lionheart was watching the small apprentice curiously.

"Something's not right" murmured Lionheart. Mossflower nodded before turning to look at Firepaw and Graypaw, whose fur was standing on end from their confrontation with Amberpelt. She padded over to the brushing her tail over their ears and purring softly.

"Hey why don't we go find Ravenpaw? Graypaw and Firepaw nodded following Mossflower around the clearing before finding Ravenpaw telling the same story Tigerclaw had been telling the other warriors, not too long ago, to some other apprentices. Mossflower noticed that Firepaw had a curious look on his face for a moment which turned to a look of shock after he looked up. Mossflower quickly turned her head in the same direction he was looking a noticed how furious Tigerclaw looked at his apprentice. Mossflower's jaw almost dropped in shock. ' Could Scourgeclaw have been right about Tigerclaw, and he treats Ravenpaw?' she started to listen to Ravenpaw's story trying to see if there was anything the apprentice had said to cause such a furious look, but before she could get in any details a call sounded from the High Rock.

"Mossflower?" she glanced at Firepaw.

"Yes Firepaw?"

"If Redtail killed Oakheart then who killed Redtail?" whispered Firepaw. Mossflower froze and turned to completely face Firepaw.

"What are you talking about? I thought Tigerclaw killed Oakheart because Oakheart killed Redtail." she whispered back.

"But, Ravenpaw just said that Redtail killed Oakheart… never mind he must have been mistaken." Firepaw quieted down glancing over at the spot where he had seen Tigerclaw. A chill went down Mossflower's back 'That's what I missed. That must have been why Tigerclaw was angry but, why would he be so furious over a mistake?' she thought as she sat down in a spot with a good view of the High Rock. She to one more look at Firepaw and she could tell from his expression that he didn't fully believe his own words. 'I've got to tell Scourgeclaw about this.' she thought, but as she looked around she didn't see him anywhere in the clearing. 'Where did he go? He's going to miss the meeting.' She looked up and saw her mother, Brokenstar, and Crookedstar on the High Rock. Cats began to murmur about the lack of WindClan cats present.

"There isn't a single WindClan cat here." a light brown she-cat with white chest and legs murmured to Mossflower.

"They wouldn't start the meeting without WindClan present, would they?" Mossflower meowed back at her. Before the she-cat could answer a voice rang out from above the commotion.

"We can't start yet without WindClan." Mossflower watched as Bluestar approached the edge to address the present Clans.

"This is true but, Brokenstar wish to speak now." she meowed, stepping back to give Brokenstar room to speak.

"Fellow warriors I'm here to talk to you about ShadowClan's needs." Cats began to interrupt him asking where the WindClan representatives were, but Brokenstar ignored them all and continued to speak about the harsh leaf-bare they had weathered and spoke of ShadowClan needing more territory to feed its growing Clan.

"I feel that every clan should allow ShadowClan to hunt in their territories, to support my growing Clan." The cats below began to growl and hiss angrily at Brokenstar. Mossflower this time let her jaw drop in disbelief at the ShadowClan leader. 'Is he mad? Why should we give up part of our territory because his clan can't feed itself in its own territory?'

"WindClan failed to understand the needs of my Clan and they were driven from their territory, and I will drive the rest of you from your territories as well if you don't understand as well." The cats fell silent with looks of shock on there faces. 'ShadowClan drove out WindClan.' she was so wrapped in her thoughts she almost didn't hear Crookedstar address the clans telling them that he had given up part of RiverClan's territory to ShadowClan. She looked at the light brown she-cat sitting beside her and saw her shake in rage.

"How could he?" she hissed under her breath. Mossflower turned her attention to her mother watching her closely. 'Don't give into him Bluestar.' she thought. As if she had heard her daughter's words she spoke to her clan.

"I will discuss this with my clan before I make any such decisions." meowed Bluestar. 'Good' was all Mossflower thought. Brokenstar stepped forward to speak up again.

"I have other news, a ShadowClan cat turned rouge and we chased her from our territory, we do not know where she has gone, but until she is caught I think it is best that you keep a close eye on your kits." 'He must be talking about Yellowfang' Mossflower thought to herself. She could her a low growl come from her fellow clanmates. 'They can't seriously be that worried over her?' After Brokenstar had spoken he leapt from the Great Rock and began to lead his Clan away. Mossflower moved over to her Clanmates who were voicing their concerns about Yellowfang. She herself wondered what Bluestar would do about Yellowfang. She didn't think that Yellowfang was much of a threat at the moment to kits' she looked around for Firepaw but didn't see him. She went directly over to Graypaw.

"Where's Firepaw?" she asked

"He went back to the Clan to warn Yellowfang, he thought it be fair to let her know what was coming." he meowed. Mossflower sighed

"Hopefully he'll have enough sense to stay out of sight when we get back." she murmured to herself. Once Bluestar had reached the group she quickly lead them out of the clearing a charging up the slope. Mossflower could hear the distress in Frostfur's voice as the quickly moved back to camp. Goldenclaw murmured comforting words to her which had calmed her down but she still had a look of anxiety on her face.

When the entered the camp Frostfur broke away from the group and almost dived into the nursery. She felt fur brush against her and turned her head to see Runningwind

"What happened?" Mossflower quickly explained what had happened at the gathering from the explanation of why WindClan had not been to the gathering to the ShadowClan rogue that was a supposed to danger to the Clan. She started to look for Firepaw when commotion broke out. She saw Tigerclaw and Darkstripe dragging Yellowfang from her nest while she struggled hissing and spitting. Bluestar voice rang out in fury.

"What is going on here? I didn't give any order to attack Yellowfang." she growled. "What has she done to deserve this? Brokenstar didn't call her by name and all of our kits are safe." She told every cat that Yellowfang was not to be harmed. She told the Clan that they would be increasing their patrols now that ShadowClan had made it clear that they are a threat. Mossflower was relieved for Yellowfang and her thoughts went to ShadowClan briefly before remembering Firepaw . She glanced around for Firepaw and spotted him next to Graypaw. She made her way over to him quickly.

"Firepaw that wasn't smart, what if someone had seen you? What would you have done if Bluestar had decided to exile Yellowfang?" Firepaw flattened his ears to his skull and his eyes flashed with a little guilt.

"Sorry Mossflower I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to let Yellowfang know what she would face if she stayed in camp. I didn't think about the consequences of my actions." he meowed.

" Well your lucky no one except myself, Ravenpaw and Graypaw noticed you missing." she froze suddenly. Firepaw and Runningwind looked at her concerned.

"What's wrong Mossflower?" meowed Firepaw. Runningwind touched his nose to her shoulder. Mossflower shook her head slightly, then she glanced around the camp slowly before looking at Firepaw.

" Firepaw, where's Scourgeclaw?"

A dark brown tabby, with unusually long fur and a broad flat face lead his cats to a tunnel that lead beneath the Thunderpath. Cats followed him one by one. A silver tabby tom trailing from behind paused and looked around before heading to some bushes. A ginger she-cat came back and called out to him. He assured her that he was just going to make dirt. She sighed and told him to hurry before racing after the others. As he moved behind the bush and scratched around for a good spot. Suddenly a blur of black fur crashed into him knocking him off his feet. He hissed and began to struggle when a white paw touched his neck. He froze when he didn't feel claws but, long, cold, pale teeth lightly digging into his neck. He looked up and stared in disbelief at the cat who had pinned him.

"No, it can't be."

"But it can. Now tell me Boulder, what is your leader planning?"

(Not my best chapter, but i wanted to get it out of the way, I wonder what going to happen now.

School is a nightmare as always, hopefully i will get the next chapter up soon and i hope it will be better than this chapter.)


	9. Chapter 9

(Okay thank you to everyone who has reviewed my stories so far. I have to thank **Crimson Solitude of the Moon **for the question in chapter 8 I didn't think about Mosskit's special issue until then. The question asked was…

Why I made Mosskit a she-cat as oppose to a tom?

Well here is the answer. *Tiny bit of a spoiler…well not really*

If you recall, In one of the warriors books in the original series and in Secrets of the Clans Mosskit is mentioned as a tom I don't remember if they give any details as to what he looked like, but I know Mosskit was mentioned as a tom. However, in Cats of the Clans and Bluestar's Prophecy Mosskit is mentioned as a gray and white she-cat. In other words she is one of Erin Hunter's special gender switch cats.

Even though I tend to go by the original series for a lot of things concerning parentage and gender issues, I decided to use the Bluestar's Prophecy version of Mosskit because it had the most detail of who Mosskit was and we get to know Mosskit a little bit and her character from Bluestar's Prophecy. So as a result I used this version of Mosskit, I think the Erin's would refer to Mosskit as a she-cat now that she played a pretty big role in Bluestar's prophecy.

So I hope that cleared up any confusion for those who haven't read Bluestar's Prophecy or didn't know about the whole gender issue.

Now as for Goldenclaw, I have been leaving little hints here and there about who he is but very soon you will know exactly who he is and what role he plays in the series. Its not a terribly big role but he is important in the lives of four young, outstanding, cats.

As for Scourgeclaw and whether or not he is evil? Well your just going to have to wait and see. J)

Chapter 9

Mossflower awoke in her nest. She stretched and started to head out of the den when she noticed Scourgeclaw lying in his nest right next to hers. She blinked at him before poking him in the side with her paw. Scourgeclaw grumbled and rolled over in his nest. Mossflower leaned over and hissed in his ear.

"Wake up Scourgeclaw," Scourgeclaw growled before turning to look at her with an annoyed face.

"What is it?" Mossflower looked at him incredulously for a moment before answering.

"Where were you at the gathering? I was looking for you all night long." Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes and sighed.

"If you must know, I wasn't prepared to be around so many different cats is all so I watched from afar." he meowed.

"That doesn't explain why we couldn't find you after we came back to camp." she meowed watching him suspiciously. Scourgeclaw stretched out of his nest and padded out of the warriors den and sat down, letting the sun warm his pelt. Mossflower followed him and looked at him expectantly. He sighed again before answering.

"I went for a hunt, I didn't want to come back to camp without prey." meowed Scourgeclaw. Mossflower sighed knowing that there was something he was leaving out but didn't feel like prying it out of him.

"Fine, then I suppose you know what's happening?" she meowed.

"Yes I know that ShadowClan drove out WindClan." meowed Scourgeclaw.

"Yes that is why Bluestar has decide to increase patrols, and I think it might be why she wants to travel to HighStones." Scourgeclaw turn to look directly into Mossflower's eyes.

"What do you mean by that? Bluestar's leaving?" Scourgeclaw meowed confused.

"Yes she's going to share tongues with StarClan and she's taking me, Firepaw, Graypaw, Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw with her. It is important that apprentices make the trip to HighStones before they are made warriors. This is probably why I'm going as well." Scourgeclaw flinched when she mentioned Tigerclaw and growled lowly under his breath.

"Why am I not going? I've never been to HighStones either." he hissed crossly.

"Well… it might be because you were nowhere to be found after the gathering and that's when she made the announcement." she hissed back sarcastically. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes at her and thumped his tail irritably on the ground. Mossflower sighed before sitting beside him and giving his ears a few brisk licks.

"It'll be okay, I'll make sure Tigerclaw doesn't do anything to Firepaw. He wouldn't dare with Bluestar around anyway." Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"That's not what's bothering me." Scourgeclaw sighed at last as he watched Mossflower give him a confused look. 'Can I trust her?' he thought briefly and decided he would share some of the fruits of his escapade from last night.

"I have a bad feeling, something about the way Brokenstar was so insistent on ThunderClan giving up our territory. What if he attacks while you are all away? I just don't think it's a good time to be leaving the Clan without a leader." Mossflower's eyes had widened in surprise by his answer. She knew first paw that Scourgeclaw's instincts were spot on and he wondered how she would feel about what he had just told her. After a few minutes Mossflower finally answered him.

"Maybe Bluestar would consider leaving Tigerclaw behind or myself behind?" she meowed. Scourgeclaw shook his head.

" To be honest I don't think any of you should leave, and I don't think Bluestar would leave Tigerclaw here anyway since she won't be able to keep an eye on myself and him." Mossflower looked around and saw Spottedleaf beckoning her over with her tail.

"I have to get my traveling herbs, why don't you tell Lionheart that he should focus the patrols on ShadowClan while we're gone?" Scourgeclaw snorted

"And what in StarClan's name is going to make him want to focus the patrols on ShadowClan? The hunch of an outsider whose only been apart of the clan for a couple of moons?" Mossflower touched his shoulder with her tail.

"You should at least try, I mean the claim itself is a possibility to consider, even if ShadowClan doesn't attack while we're gone it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for an attack just incase." with another glance at Spottedleaf. "I have to go now " Mossflower meowed softly before giving Scourgeclaw one last lick on his ear and bounded over to Spottedleaf who was sitting in front of a bundle of herbs. Scourgeclaw watched her go with a sigh 'Oh they'll be attacking as long as Boulder remembered to keep his mouth shut.' Scourgeclaw growled inwardly. He starting to hope that the silver tabby had said something to his dark leader. He sat in front of the den watching some of cats as they prepared for the day. He spotted Lionheart with Bluestar. The two appeared to be discussing what would be going on while Bluestar was away. Scourgeclaw glanced over to where Mossflower was talking to Spottedleaf, before making his way toward the ThunderClan leader and her deputy. When he reached the two he waited patiently for them to take notice of him. Bluestar was the first to notice him.

"Scourgeclaw I was wondering where you were last night I didn't see you come home from the gathering." she meowed with a sharp stare. Scourgeclaw looked into her eyes and saw that she was more curious than angry. Scourgeclaw dipped his head in apology.

"I apologize Bluestar, I still had so much energy left over from the gathering I thought my energy could be used for a quick hunt." he meowed evenly. As he looked up at Bluestar he saw that while she still had a little suspicion of him, she had accepted his answer.

"Make sure you tell someone where your going before you just take off the next time, understood?" Scourgeclaw fought back growl as he gave Bluestar his promise. ' She's speaking to me as if she was chastising a kit.' he hissed inwardly to himself. Bluestar watched closely for a moment before speaking again.

"I feel that you have something to tell me?" she asked with a slight bit of urgency. 'as observant as ever.' Sourgeclaw thought before answering his leader.

"Bluestar, is it wise to leave the Clan so soon after the ShadowClan leader has made it clear that he will drive out our Clan if we don't give up our territory? Shouldn't you console with your ancestors once you know your clan isn't under immediate threat?" Bluestar blinked slowly as she took in his words. Lionheart seemed to be deep in though as well. Within a few seconds Bluestar finally spoke.

'I can see your point in all of this, but ShadowClan has no reason to attack us right away because we have neither refused nor accepted to give up our territory to them, but you are right to be concerned." with that said she turned to Lionheart. " Put the extra patrols on the ShadowClan border. While I don't think that they'll attack so soon after the gathering it won't hurt to be cautious." Lionheart nodded giving Scourgeclaw a nod of respect before going of to set the patrols. As Scourgeclaw moved to find Firepaw before he left he felt Bluestar's tail touch his shoulder.

"I know that your worried for Firepaw, but he'll be fine while he's with me and I know your disappointed that you aren't going with us. I would have taken you along if I had known where you were." she meowed firmly. " I want you to help Lionheart keep an eye on the camp while I'm gone." Scourgeclaw blinked slowly before nodding.

"Yes we'll keep the camp safe."

Mossflower gulped down the last of the bitter tasting herbs with a grimace on her face. 'Isn't there a way to make these things taste any better?' She thought with a grimace. Spottedleaf watched her with an amused look on her face. Spottedleaf touched Mossflower's shoulder with her tail.

"I know they taste pretty foul, but it will help keep up your strength, but take it easy don't over exert yourself." she meowed softly, she lowered her voice a little as she added. " I also want you to start visiting my den more often. Have you decided when you are going to move ?" Mossflower looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. When she saw that no one was watching them she answered.

"Soon, I'm just waiting for a good time to tell Scourgeclaw and Firepaw." she meowed gently. Spottedleaf nodded in understanding. Mossflower looked nervously at Spottedleaf. "Do you really think I can do this?" she asked. Spottedleaf purred gently.

"Of course you can , I have faith in you and you should have faith in yourself. We'll also get to see more of each other now right?" Mossflower nodded. She and Spottedleaf had become close friends since she Firepaw and Scourgeclaw had come to live in ThunderClan, and while they got to spend some time together, they couldn't spend a lot of time together due to their respective places in the Clan, but very soon that would change. Mossflower bid farewell to Spottedleaf, then moved toward the apprentice den to see if Firepaw, Graypaw and Ravenpaw were ready. She gave a friendly nod to Goldenclaw as he passed her and she watched him creep into the nursery before continuing on her way. When she reached the apprentice den, she saw that Firepaw was talking to Scourgeclaw. She came up to stand beside Firepaw and gave him a questioning look.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked with a slight teasing note in her voice. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes and ignored her.

"Oh nothing , Scourgeclaw was just telling me to be careful while we are gone." Firepaw meowed as he nudged Scourgeclaw. Mossflower made a look of mock hurt as she looked at Scourgeclaw.

"How come you didn't tell me to be careful?" she meowed. Scourgeclaw snorted.

"You're a warrior, your expected to be careful, if you don't then it's because you were being mouse-brained and probably deserved what ever happened to you." Scourgeclaw growled, knowing full well that if he had said that to any other warrior they probably would have taken offence, Mossflower however had an amused expression on her face.

"I'll miss you too Scourgeclaw, come Firepaw Bluestar's waiting for us." she meowed heading toward the camp entrance where the rest of the group was waiting to go, Firepaw touched noses briefly with Scourgeclaw before following Mossflower to the entrance. Scourgeclaw watched them with slight feeling of worry. 'Take care of him Mossflower'

Bluestar lead the patrol in the direction of Fourtrees. Tigerclaw stayed a stride behind her with Graypaw and Firepaw a few pawsteps behind him. Mossflower padded along behind the two apprentices, with Ravenpaw a pawstep behind her.

As they passed through Fourtrees, Mossflower couldn't help but look around and take in the scents of the cats who had been there last night. They climbed up the bushy slope that lead into WindClan territory.

Mossflower paused at the top and looked around at the landscape. She felt the wind rustle her fur as she took in the faint scent of WindClan that hung in the air as well as the stronger and more alarming scent of ShadowClan markers.

"Every Clan is granted safe passage to the Moonstone, but since ShadowClan is acting as though the warrior code doesn't exist we should stay alert. This isn't our territory WindClan here or not we will not disrespect the warrior code." meowed Bluestar as they continued through the territory feeling the sun beating down on their backs.

Suddenly Tigerclaw called out an alert.

"I smell a ShadowClan patrol." he growled. The others quickly scented the air.

"They are upwind from us so they won't scent us we keep moving forward." meowed Bluestar. She motioned them to follow her as she quickly lead them away from the powerful ShadowClan scent.

They continued their swift pace until the scent of ShadowClan grew faint. They reached the edge of WindClan's territory where there were twoleg nests scattered across the landscape. They move quickly through them. Mossflower flinched as they passed a twoleg nest with dogs that were barking and growling as they quickly padded by.

They reached the Thunderpath just as the sun was beginning to sink. Bluestar moved the group over to a hedge near the edge of the Thunderpath. They watched as the monsters raced across the Thunderpath going both directions.

"We'll have to each go one at the time." meowed Tigerclaw before turning to glare at his apprentice. "You go first Ravenpaw."

Mossflower opened her mouth to protest, but Bluestar beat her to it.

"No Tigerclaw, the apprentices have never crossed the Thunderpath before they need to see how its done, I'll go first." she meowed before moving forward and stopping to crouch at the edge of the Thunderpath. She looked up and down the Thunderpath for monsters before racing across to the other side. Tigerclaw turn his attention back at Ravenpaw.

"Okay Ravenpaw, now that you've seen how its done you can go now." he growled.

Mossflower felt her fur begin to bristle as she stared at the dark tabby warrior, as she watched him glare at Ravenpaw. ' Scourgeclaw's right, no mentor should be treating their apprentice this way. He should be encouraging him not intimidating him' she thought as she watched Ravenpaw approach the Thunderpath shaking with fear in his eyes.

"You can do it Ravenpaw, just focus." she meowed calmly ignoring Tigerclaw's glare that he fixed on her. Ravenpaw copied what Bluestar had done on the edge of the Thunderpath, hesitating a little, until Tigerclaw growled at him to move his tail. He was about to cross when a monster came speeding down the Thunderpath causing Ravenpaw to back away from the edge of the path until it passed. He then quickly crossed over.

Graypaw made it over without any problems. Then Tigerclaw nudged Firepaw forward. Firepaw crept out onto the edge of the Thunderpath. Mossflower watched closely as a Twoleg monster came rushing down the path. Mossflower felt a wave of panic as she saw the monster miss hitting Firepaw by a whisker. She could barely stop herself from racing over to check on the fiery apprentice. Firepaw waited a little for the path to be silent again before racing over.

Mossflower quickly to the edge of the Thunderpath without waiting to see if Tigerclaw wanted to cross. She crouched down looked both ways before racing across to the other side of the path. Just as she was half way across, a speeding monster came hurtling toward her she moved forward and laid down just as the monster was in her way and trembled as it moved over her without touching her. Once it had gone she sat up and quickly dashed the rest of the way to the other side. As soon as she was safely across, Firepaw came over and buried his face in her fur.

"I was so worried, are you okay." he meowed softly. Mossflower purred I amusement.

"Are you okay?" she meowed "I'm not the only one who almost got hit today." she meowed.

"I'm fine." meowed Firepaw. Mossflower gently cuffed him on the ear.

"You better be. The last thing I need if for Scourgeclaw to claw my fur out for letting a monster get his paws on you." she meowed

"I thought for sure that you were crowfood Mossflower." meowed Graypaw as he approached the two.

"I thought so too." meowed Mossflower. Bluestar came over to look at the two just as Tigerclaw finished crossing.

"Do you both need t rest?" she asked softly. Her eyes had softened as she looked at Mossflower. Mossflower could also see the worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine we can keep going." she meowed. Bluestar turned to Firepaw who repeated the same thing. Bluestar nodded and lead the cats on toward Highstones.

Once they reached Highstones just s the sun had fallen, Bluestar gave them the okay to hunt and rest as they waited for the moon to rise. Mossflower moved off with the apprentices and Tigerclaw went his own way. They each brought back a decent catch of prey and brought it back to where Bluestar was sitting and staring into Mothermouth.

Once they had finished they waited beside Bluestar, until she told them it was time. She stood and made her way to Mothermouth. Mossflower approached the cave in awe of it. She barely paid attention to Graypaw calling Ravenpaw to join the rest of the group. She saw only blackness as she peered into the entrance.

"How will we see?" asked Firepaw as he looked into the cave.

"I know they way, just follow my scent. "Bluestar answered. "Mossflower you Firepaw and Tigerclaw will accompany me to the Moonstone, Ravenpaw and Graypaw you two will stand guard." with that said Bluestar entered the cave with Tigerclaw following right behind her. Mossflower nudged Firepaw ahead of her and took up the rear. Mossflower shiver slightly at the overwhelming darkness as they padded through the cave. She could smell fear scent in the air that grew stronger the further they traveled into the cave. At first she believe it to be Firepaw, until she realized it was the unmistakable scent of Tigerclaw. She have laughed about it if she herself wasn't starting to feel a little nervous. The air was damp and cold and it drove another shiver from Mossflower.

Just as Mossflower started to think that the cave would never end, the path open up into a cavern. The air was fresher here and the welcome scent of prey and heather that relaxed her. She could barely make out the opening in the roof that allowed the fresh air to seep in.

"We are now in the cavern of the Moonstone." meowed Bluestar. "You can rest for now, it will be moonhigh soon."

Mossflower laid down on the cold stone floor. Firepaw came and laid down beside her warming each other against the chill of the cave. She could hear Tigerclaw breathing heavily and filling the air with his fear scent.

Just when Mossflower was starting to doze in the cavern, a blinding light suddenly appeared and lit up the cave. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them and quickly realizing that the light was coming from a gleaming rock in front of them. The light of the rock turned Bluestar's pelt white, Tigerclaw's pelt had become silver and Firepaw's pelt a rich golden color.

Suddenly Tigerclaw turned tail and raced out of the cavern back toward the entrance of the cave. Firepaw became nervous and pressed his pelt into Mossflower's. Bluestar called out to the two of them.

"Are you both okay?" she asked.

"We are fine, why did Tigerclaw leave?" Mossflower asked confused. Bluestar explained that Tigerclaw was just overwhelmed by the power of the Moonstone and felt the need to leave at that time.

"Are either of you afraid?"

"No, I feel only curiosity." answered Firepaw.

"And I feel excitement as well as curiosity." Mossflower added.

"That's good" Bluestar replied as she approached the shinning rock and laid down beside it. They watched as she leaned forward enough to touch her nose to the rough surface. Mossflower and Firepaw sat and watched her as she closed her eyes and began to dream.

Before long the cavern was once again plunged into darkness. Firepaw tensed up against Mossflower.

"Mossflower, Firepaw are you both still here?" Bluestar called .

"Yes we are." answered Mossflower.

"Hurry then we must get back to the camp." she hissed as she blazed past them into the tunnel. Mossflower could barely contain her shock as she quickly spun around and raced after Bluestar with Firepaw at her heels. 'What could be happening at the camp' she thought. As she raced through the dark tunnel as quickly as she could.

Once outside Bluestsar told the others that they were leaving for the camp at once. She kept a fast pace as they travel back to camp. Mossflower could tell that Bluestar was anxious to get back to camp. They crossed the Thunderpath without trouble. And were heading back through the Twoleg nests when a muscular black and white tom appeared. Mossflower watched the cat warily and she heard Graypaw say something to Firepaw about the cat being a loner.

"Greetings Bluestar." meowed the tom. Tigerclaw watched the cat suspiciously. Bluestar stepped forward and greeted the tom.

"Greetings Barley, How goes the rat catching?"

"It c=goes well, I wanted to tell you to be careful and to go through the cornfield instead of running past the yard. The dogs are loose since they guard the Twoleg's nest at night. " he meowed. Tigerclaw opened his mouth to protest, but Bluestar beat him to it.

"Thank you Barley, we'll go that way then." she meowed before heading into the cornfield to continue on the way back to camp. 'Something must seriously be wrong if Bluestar is just going to follow the advice of a loner without thinking it through.' Mossflower thought as she followed her mother into the corn field.

Suddenly they were attacked from every direction by screeching rats. Mossflower swatted the little dark creatures. She sank her teeth into a rat that was biting into her thigh. She could just see Firepaw writhing on the ground trying to get the rats crawling over his body, before another rat flung itself at her. She started to feel multiple bites on her back and tail and she began to twist and turn every way she could biting and slashing the rats with her claws and crushed the rats between her jaws.

Suddenly she saw Barley slicing through the rats . He pulled some rats off of her and a few that Firepaw still had on him before making his way over to Bluestar. Mossflower looked around and saw that Firepaw was helping Graypaw. Tigerclaw was doing well enough on his own and she couldn't see Ravenpaw, but she raced to her mother's side and helped Barley fight the rats that were covering her mother.

Suddenly as quickly as the rats had surrounded them they were gone. Mossflower looked around to see Ravenpaw pulling himself out of a ditch covered with bites and scratches. She looked down at her mother and saw that she wasn't moving she was covered in blood. Firepaw ran to Bluestar's side looking worried. She moved to comfort the fiery apprentice, when a furious snarl came from behind her. She saw that Tigerclaw had pinned Barley to the ground.

"You lead us into a trap." growled Tigerclaw staring at Barley.

"I didn't know that the rats were here." Barley growled back. Mossflower moved to stand beside Tigerclaw.

"Tigerclaw that's enough why would he lead us into a trap only to come and save us from it?" she meowed causing Tigerclaw to look at her before letting Barley get up.

"Mossflower, Tigerclaw, Bluestar's badly injured what should we do?" Tigerclaw moved over to where their leader had fallen.

"There is nothing we can do, she's in the paws of StarClan." Tigerclaw meowed. 'Please come back Bluestar meowed what will we do without you' thought Mossflower.

Scourgeclaw leaped over a fallen tree branch weaving through the oak trees. He was on patrol with Whitestorm leading it and Goldenclaw was padding along side him. They were scenting their border near RiverClan, checking to make sure that their was no sign of RiverClan attempting to take over some of their territory. Scourgeclaw twitched his tail in aggravation. 'We should be checking the ShadowClan border not RiverClan.' he inwardly growled. It was getting closer to moonhigh and the patrol was heading back to camp.

When they were getting close to ravine, Whitestorm paused and tasted the air.

"I smell ShadowClan." he hissed . A soon as he spoke a yowl rang out and suddenly the sounds of screeching cats filled the night. "Quickly the camp is under attack." without another word. Whitestoem was racing toward the camp with Goldenclaw hot on his heels. Scourgeclaw paused a moment before taking off down the ravine. ' I had a feeling this would happen.' he thought before tearing through the gorse tunnel into the camp clearing.

There were cats every where, screeching and clawing. Tufts of fur falling around and scent of blood in the air. Scourgeclaw tore into the battle, pouncing on the back of a light gray tom with a dark tail. He raked his claws along his spine and gave a fierce bite to the cat's shoulder blade. The tom gave a loud screech and twisted to try and get Scourgeclaw off of him, but Scourgeclaw wasn't letting up. He raked his claws across the toms face. The tom gave a powerful buck and knocked Scourgeclaw off his back. The tom leaped forward to try and pin Scourgeclaw to the ground, but Scourgeclaw was faster. He dodge out of the way and let his unusually sharp claws slice through the tom's flank sending him screeching out the camp. Scourgeclaw almost chased after him, when he remembered there were other attackers. 'I suppose I'll get another chance to finish of my quarry.' he thought. He flung himself back into battle coming up to fight beside Brindleface who had her paws full fighting a large brown tabby tom. Scourgeclaw slashed at the toms face , while Brindleface sank her teeth into the shoulder of the brown tabby. The tom screech and shook himself free from Brindlface racing out the camp entrance. Brindleface blinked gratefully at Scourgeclaw before she moved to help Goldenflower and Frostfur who were fighting a gray tom.\

He saw Mousefur writhing underneath a large black tom. The tom moved to deliver the kill bite, but Scourgeclaw was faster. He sank his teeth into tom's throat causing him to release his grip on Mousefur. Mousefur crawled from beneath the tom and delivered a fierce bite to the tom's shoulder. The cat shook them both off with a yowl of pain. He raked his claws along Scourgeclaw's flank. Scourgeclaw slashed the tom in the stomach with his hind legs while Mousefur sank her teeth in the tom's flank. The tom screeched and broke free racing away from the camp. Scourgeclaw turn to face Mousefur, but the dusky brown she-cat had already jumped back into the fight. Scourgeclaw was about to follow her when he spotted a familiar fiery ginger pelt. He saw that it was indeed his brother Firepaw, wrestling with a tabby queen. Scourgeclaw looked around saw that the cats that had gone on the trip to Highstones ha returned to camp. He saw Mossflower attack a dark ginger she cat and wrestle with her on the ground biting and scratching. He saw Bluestar come limping into camp and saw the ThunderClan leader fling herself into the fray with the rest of the cats. Scourgeclaw heard a screech from the direction of the nursery and raced in that direction. He saw Yellowfang fight off Blackfoot away from the nursery. He saw that Rosetail one of the elder's was laying dead in front of the nursery. He felt a brush of fur at his flank and realized that Firepaw had come up beside him.

"Go on and fight I'll watch the kits." Yellowfang called from the nursery. Scourgeclaw and Firepaw turned back to the fight. They saw that most of the ShadowClan warriors had retreated and only a few remained in the camp. They watched as Goldenclaw, Whitestorm and Darkstripe chased the last few warriors out of camp. Scourgeclaw looked around at the devastated camp. Mossflower came to stand beside him. They padded over to the Highrock to sit down. They saw the queen's race into the nursery to check on their kits. Scourgeclaw half expected to hear more snarls of fighting, but was surprised to hear only squeals of joy and purring. Frostfur came out with Yellowfang to address the Clan.

"Yellowfang kept our kit safe. A ShadowClan warrior killed Rosetail to get to the kits, but Yellowfang stopped him from taking them."

"It was Blackfoot he was trying to steal the kits." meowed Firepaw. The Clan murmured in surprise at Firepaw's comment. Bluestar then came forward to address the Clan.

"Spottedleaf is working on Lionheart but I think he is going to join our warrior ancestors." she meowed gravely.

Graypaw let out a wail of sadness and raced to be beside Lionheart. They watched the gray apprentice move to share tongues with his mentor one last time. Firepaw padded over to comfort his friend. Mossflower gave Scourgeclaw a look of pain. Runningwind ran over to Mossflower and asked her if she was okay. Mossflower could only bury her face in his fur.

A few tense moments later Graypaw let out another yowl.

"He's gone." he wailed in despair. The other cats let out wails of grief. They began to carry out their duties to grieve for their fallen deputy and elder. Scourgeclaw rose to his paws and came to stand in front of Lionheart.

"You were a powerful tom, you will always have my respect." murmured Scourgeclaw as he looked down at Lionheart. He then walked over to Rosetail he didn't feel the need to say anything to the fallen elder, but he looked at her briefly before moving a way's off to watch the other cats. 'It would seem Boulder was telling the truth about the attack.' he thought.

Bluestar came to stand beside him.

"You knew this would happen didn't you?" she asked waiting for an answer.

"No, I had a feeling that it would happen." he answered. 'okay I didn't really lie, I didn't know that they would attack tonight.' he thought to himself. As he looked Bluestar in the eye.

"I believe you , you were right. I should have waited to console with StarClan." Bluestar meowed solemnly. "I need to decide on who should be the clan's new deputy." she meowed. She gave Scourgeclaw a nod before going over to stand beside Lionheart. Scourgeclaw watched her for a moment and briefly wondered who she would chose for to be the Clan's new deputy. Spottedleaf came over to him with some herbs.

"Can I look at your wounds?" she asked softly. Scourgeclaw looked at her a moment before nodding. Spottedleaf sniffed at the scratches on his flank before chewing up some herbs into a poultice and dabbing it on his flank. He flinched a little but didn't stop her from treating his wounds. She then moved on to the other injured cats before treating Bluestar.

Bluestar then climbed up on the Highrock and called the clan together to address them. The cats slowly gather around the Highrock and waited for their leader to make her announcement.

"It is nearly moonhigh and once more I must choose a new deputy too soon. I say these words before the body of Lionheart, so that his spirit may hear and approve my choice. Tigerclaw will be the new deputy of ThunderClan." Cats yowled loudly in approval the loudest being Longtail and Darkstripe. Mossflower widen her eyes in shock before turning to look at Scourgeclaw who was staring forward with an almost expressionless look on his face but when she looked closer at his eyes she saw that they had darkened in anger. Mossflower excused herself from Runningwind before walking over to Scourgeclaw.

"Are you okay?" she meowed softly. Scourgeclaw ignored her sharply turning and heading into the warriors den. Mossflower watched him go with a worried look in her eyes. She watched as the others came up to congratulate Tigerclaw. She looked up at her mother who looked at her briefly before climbing down from the Highrock. Mossflower came over to Runningwind who had just finished congratulating Tigerclaw and told him she was going to rest. She followed Scourgeclaw into the warriors den. She saw that he had already gone to sleep. She settled in the nest beside him and fell asleep.

At dawn all the warriors watched the elders take Lionheart and Rosetail's bodies from the camp to the burial site. Graypaw went with them everyone else went about their day. Firepaw and Ravenpaw went to sleep. Some of the other cats went into the warrior's den to rest. Mossflower nudge Scourgeclaw who seemed to be staring off into the distance.

"Come on let's go hunt together." Scourgeclaw looked at her a moment before silently nodding and heading out the camp entrance.

They headed toward Sunningrocks walking in silence listening to the sounds of the forest. Scourgeclaw heard the say a mouse nibbling on a seed. He got down into the hunter's crouch before pouncing onto the mouse and delivering a fierce bite. He then buried it into the ground. Mossflower watched him briefly before catching the scent of a sparrow.

They carried on hunting until it started to get close to sunhigh. They dug up their prey and began to carry it back to camp. They hadn't spoke a word to each other since the ceremony last night and Mossflower was anxious to speak to him. She stopped suddenly placed down her prey and waited for Scourgeclaw to notice her. Scourgeclaw sighed inwardly and turn to face her and gave her a questioning glance.

" Are you okay Scourgeclaw?" she asked softly . Scourgeclaw placed down his catch to answer her.

"I'm fine Mossflower."

"I was just asking I know you don't like Tigerclaw and he's the last cat you wanted to be made deputy." Scourgeclaw growled under his breath.

"I don't trust him and I know I could never follow him as a leader."

"Your not going to leave are you?" she asked worriedly. Scourgeclaw stayed silent. "Please say you won't leave." Scourgeclaw looked sharply at her.

"Why would you care if I leave or not. Why are you so insistent that I stay?"

"Because I'm pregnant and I want you to be there for my kits."

(That is the longest chapter that I have ever written. I'm sorry once again for not updating in a while because of computer problems I had to get my computer repaired so I couldn't update.

So what will happen now will Scourgeclaw stay? Will he leave?

Is Bluestar suspicious of Scourgeclaw?

Let me know what you think of the chapter. )


	10. Chapter 10

(Thank you everyone for your reviews here is the next chapter.)

Chapter 10

Scourgeclaw stared at Mossflower in surprise before covering it with indifference.

"They're not even my kits, why do you want me to stay for them?" Mossflower looked into his eyes as she spoke.

"That may be true, but you have so much knowledge and skill that you can teach them and who can help me protect them from Tigerclaw? If everything you say and think about him is true then I'll need your help with them." Scourgeclaw snorted

"Isn't that Runningwind's job? After all they are his kits." Mossflower shook her head slowly.

"Who would believe me that there is something wrong with Tigerclaw? Remember I'm just as much an outsider as you are, regardless of whether I was born here or not." she meowed softly. Scourgeclaw said nothing. "What about Firepaw?" Scourgeclaw looked away from her. He knew deep down that he couldn't force Firepaw to leave with him. He sighed before turning to face Mossflower.

"I won't force him to do something he doesn't wish to do." he meowed at last 'If I can help it' he added mentally to himself. Mossflower merely nodded slowly before picking her kill and heading back to the camp.

The trip back to camp was silent. As the two placed their catch into the fresh-kill pile, Bluestar called a meeting. Mossflower padded over to sit beside Runningwind. Scourgeclaw sat at the very back of the gathering cats. He saw Firepaw emerge from the apprentice den and move to sit between Ravenpaw and Graypaw. He inwardly sighed as he watched his younger brother with his friends.

"May I sit with you?" Scourgeclaw turned to see Mousefur standing beside him. Scourgeclaw gave her a silent nod. He half expected Mousefur to say something spiteful to him, but the small dusky brown she-cat didn't say a word. He was confused as to why Mousefur would be so civil with him now. 'It might be because of Lionheart's death and the fact that ShadowClan could attack us again at anytime.' he thought briefly.

Once all the cats had gathered beneath the High rock , the meeting began. Surprisingly it was Tigerclaw who spoke first.

"Cats of ThunderClan Bluestar has lost a life, and she should be protected now. I will have two cats be her personal guards." Tigerclaw meowed. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes as he watched the dark tabby warrior. ' Three guesses who they will be' he thought sarcastically as he glanced at Darkstripe and Longtail. "I will appoint Longtail and Darkstripe as Bluestar's personal guards." The two cats in question had looks of shock and pride on their faces as the took the places on either side of Bluestar. Now Bluestar decide to speak up.

"This isn't really necessary Tigerclaw, though I am grateful for your concern. Just because I have these guards no one should worry about approaching me." she meowed softly. " Now there are more things to discuss. First our Clan will have more kits soon, as Mossflower is with kits and will be moving into the nursery shortly." Scourgeclaw could see Runningwind puffing up his chest in pride at having his kits be announced. He saw Firepaw with a look of shock and happiness in his eyes. Scourgeclaw noticed that most of the Clan was happy to hear that the camp would be growing. He finally allowed his eyes to settle on Tigerclaw. He saw a dark look flash over Tigerclaw's eyes as he stared at Mossflower but he didn't say a word. ' Mossflower's right everyone thinks so highly of Tigerclaw they wouldn't think he would be capable of harming a kit.' he thought bitterly and with a bit slight sadness. He always felt close to Mossflower, but he thought that it was merely because she was a strong and capable warrior, someone worth his respect, but now he couldn't help but feel more for her.

After the cats had settled and had finished congratulating Mossflower, Bluestar continued with her announcements.

"And now I would like to formally invite Yellowfang to join ThunderClan, she has proved her loyalty by protecting our kits from her former Clan."

Many cats nodded and murmured agreements. Scourgeclaw saw that Firepaw was proud that Yellowfang was being asked to join ThunderClan. Yellowfang stepped forward and looked up at the ThunderClan leader.

"I accept Bluestar, and I thank you for all you have done for me." she meowed Bluestar gave a nod in her direction before continuing on.

" We were able to defend ourselves from the ShadowClan attack but, there is still the chance that they will attack again we must be ready for it. I want the repairs that we started this morning to continue and we will be patrolling constantly."

"They also attacked when we were gone from camp. That was very convenient timing. How did they know that the camp was so poorly defended? " Tigerclaw growled as he directed his eyes on Ravenpaw. Scourgeclaw watched in shock as the cats start to turn and look at Ravenpaw and stared confusedly at the black apprentice. " If you suspect anything or anyone let me know, otherwise continue with the repairs and patrols." With that said cats started to disperse and murmur to each other. 'What was that about?' he thought as he glanced at Ravenpaw. Scourgeclaw shook his head of the strange thoughts before giving himself a stretch. He decided to head back out for another hunt. He was heading for the tunnel when he felt a pelt brush up against his right flank. He turned in surprise to see Mousefur standing beside him.

"Hey Scourgeclaw, would you like to hunt with me?" she said calmly. Scourgeclaw blinked his shock away and gave a curt nod. The two padded into the forest together.

"Where should we hunt?" meowed Mousefur. Scourgeclaw stopped and thought for a moment. ' Is she seriously asking my opinion or is she just waiting for me to say something so she can criticize it?' he thought with a bit of annoyance.

"Let's try near the Great Sycamore tree." he answered finally. Mousefur nodded and the two started toward the Great Sycamore. ' She didn't say a word. That's odd' Scourgeclaw thought briefly. As the padded along the scent of a mouse caught Scourgeclaw's nose and he stopped to pin point where the scent had come from. Then he could see a mouse scurrying around the roots of a nearby oak tree. He lowered himself closer to the ground getting into the hunter's crouch. He slowly crept forward making sure to not crunch the fallen leaves under his paws. He blinked slowly and a heartbeat later had the plump mouse under his paws. He delivered a swift bite to his catch before burying it into the ground.

"Well done," meowed Mousefur. Scourgeclaw blinked slowly at her surprised. He couldn't believe that Mousefur was being pleasant to him. He gave her a curt nod before continuing with the hunt. Mousefur spotted a squirrel and took off after it. He watched her chase it down and pin it beneath her paws. She picked it up carrying it over to where Scourgeclaw was waiting. Scourgeclaw couldn't help but admit he was impressed.

"Nice catch" he meowed evenly. He thought that he may have seen Mousefur puff her chest out a little as she carried her squirrel over to him.

They continued to hunt around the Great Sycamore catching three more mice, a vole, a sparrow and a robin. The three carried their catch back to the camp. Once they had entered the camp, they placed their catches in the fresh-kill pile. Scourgeclaw looked around and saw that everyone was hard at work repairing the camp. He saw that Firepaw, Graypaw and Ravenpaw were working on a big patch in the wall. He noticed that Firepaw looked a bit shaken. Scourgeclaw padded up to stand beside him.

"What's wrong with you?" he meowed calmly. Firepaw flinched before realizing that it was Scourgeclaw right next to him.

"Oh Scourgeclaw, you startled me. I'm fine." Scourgeclaw felt a little concern and a disappointment that Firepaw was hiding something from him, but he didn't feel like prying him out of him.

"Are you sure?" he asked . Firepaw gave him a brisk nod.

"Yeah I went to find some wild garlic for our rat bites and I didn't have much luck. I'm just going to get some poppy seeds from Spottedleaf." he meowed before racing off to the medicine cat's den. Scourgeclaw shook his head a little, before heading back to the fresh-kill pile and pulling out a plump vole. He padded toward the warriors den to find a place to eat his fresh-kill. He found a nice spot close to the den and started to eat the vole.

"Do you mind if I eat with you?" Scourgeclaw looked up to see that Mousefur had come to stand beside him with a mouse. He merely nodded his head and she lied down beside him and began to eat her prey. Scourgeclaw looked around and spotted Goldenclaw, Willowpelt and Runningwind returning from their patrol. He saw that Frostfur and Goldenflower were helping Mossflower move into the nursery. He was surprised by how calm he was. He never felt this comfortable in camp before. He couldn't place why he felt so relaxed when he had felt on edge for the last few moons. After he finished his fresh-kill he and Mousefur began to help with the repairs in the camp.

Scourgeclaw stretched out of his nest and looked into the empty nest that lay beside him. Mossflower had moved into the nursery just last night, and Scourgeclaw refused to believe that he missed the gray and white she-cat. He gave himself a stretch and padded out of the warrior's den. Goldenclaw was just finishing off a piece of fresh-kill as he emerged.

"Hey, Scourgeclaw want to go on a patrol?" The golden warrior asked as he licked the last traces of mouse off his whiskers. Scourgeclaw blinked slowly watching the golden warrior before silently nodding. Goldenclaw eyes brightened.

"Good, I'll find someone to come with us." he meowed before heading into the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw watched him a moment before turning to look around the camp.

He glanced across the clearing and spotted Tigerclaw standing outside of the apprentice den. He felt his fur stand on end as he watched the dark tabby warrior stick his head into the den. Moments later Ravenpaw and Firepaw emerged from the den speaking briefly with the new deputy. Firepaw spotted him and bounded over.

"Hey, Scourgeclaw, Bluestar and I are going to train together." Firepaw meowed excitedly. Scourgeclaw could see that while Firepaw was excited he also seemed nervous and anxious he was going to ask his brother what was bothering him but was cut off.

"Good morning Scourgeclaw" meowed the regal voice of Bluestar. Scourgeclaw turned to face her looking deep into her deep blue eyes. He blinked slowly before dipping his head in greeting. Bluestar watched him a few minutes more before turning to face Firepaw.

"Are you ready Firepaw?" asked Bluestar. Firepaw gave her a nod and started toward the tunnel, but he turned back to touch noses with Scourgeclaw before running back to the entrance. Bluestar turned her attention back to Scourgeclaw.

"I know that you don't like Tigerclaw, and I understand the reason behind it, but can I trust you to still show loyalty to him?" she asked watching Scourgeclaw closely. Scourgeclaw blinked before answering her.

"I will make an effort to accept Tigerclaw but I won't promise you anything." meowed he meowed. Bluestar watched him a moment more before giving him a curt nod and walking to the entrance. 'Tigerclaw will never have my loyalty, if she thinks I'll just obey Tigerclaw because he's the deputy then she is mouse-brained.' he snarled in his head. Suddenly he felt fur brush against his flank. He turned to see Mousefur standing beside him.

"Are you ready?" she asked softly. Scourgeclaw looked at her with confusion.

"Ready?" he asked. Mousefur rolled her eyes and nudged him.

"To on patrol with Goldenclaw?" she asked. Scourgeclaw gave her a nod. "Good he just wanted to stop by the nursery first." she meowed. Just as she had finished speaking Goldenclaw came padding up to the two of them with Willowpelt right behide him. Scourgeclaw and Mousefur each meowed a greeting to Willowpelt which was returned. Goldenclaw started forward toward the tunnel.

"Come lets go check the ShadowClan border." he meowed walking pass them to the camp entrance. Tigerclaw was lead Ravenpaw and Graypaw out of the camp. Scourgeclaw noticed that Ravenpaw looked very nervous and he wondered what Tigerclaw had said to the black apprentice to make him so nervous. He shook his thoughts away as he padded through the entrance to camp.

The patrol continued along the side of the Thunderpath keeping a look out for any ShadowClan cats. Goldenclaw lead the patrol with Mousefur and Scourgeclaw padding alongside each other and Willowpelt bring up the rear. Scourgeclaw noticed that Mousefur was walking pretty close to him. He also noticed that when he walked a little faster , she speed up to match his stride. Scourgeclaw was confused by this action, but felt surprisingly comfortable with it. They continued on passing Fourtrees and down toward Sunningrocks.

Goldenclaw slowed the patrol down near the Owl Tree.

"Let's hunt for bit." he meowed before moving to check a nearby bush for prey. Mousefur raced off into the trees to look. Scourgeclaw decided to look around in another patch of bushes close by. He sniffed around but had no luck. Goldenclaw came back with a vole clamped in his jaws, Willowpelt had found a small sparrow and Mousefur had a squirrel. She looked up from her kill when Scourgeclaw came back.

"Find any prey?" she asked. Scourgeclaw resisted the urge to snap at her, since she had been so civil with him lately.

"No, I didn't have much luck." Mousefur pushed the squirrel forward a bit in his direction.

"Would you like to share mine?" she asked softly. Scourgeclaw was tempted to say tell her that she could keep her prey, but his stomach made a slight growling noise since he hadn't eaten since yesterday. He decide to suck up his pride and share with Mousefur. He leaned down and began to eat the squirrel across from Mousefur. They ate peacefully in silence. As Scourgeclaw was swallowing his last piece of prey he felt Mousefur brush her muzzle against his. He sat there blinking in shock. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Goldenclaw was watching him with a look of amusement on his face. Willowpelt watched him with a bit of curiosity. The golden warrior stood and stretched before heading off toward Sunningrocks. Willowpelt padded along side him with Mousefur and Scourgeclaw were close behind them. As they padded alongside their border with RiverClan, they caught the fresh scent of ShadowClan nearby.

"ShadowClan." hissed Mousefur. As the fur on her neck began to rise. Goldenclaw sniffed the air.

"The wind is blowing their scent toward us so the won't scent us." he meowed evenly. "lets find where their scent is coming from."

They headed in the direction of the scent and spotted two ShadowClan warriors and an apprentice gathering prey they had caught. Goldenclaw turned to Mousefur.

"Run back to camp and tell them that ShadowClan are hunting in Sunningrocks." Mousefur stared at him for a moment before taking off toward camp.

"Should we confront them now or wait until back up comes?" Willowpelt asked. Goldenclaw though for a moment before answering.

"We'll wait until back up comes but if they start to leave then we'll confront them." he replied.

"Then we better get ready to confront them because they are picking up their prey now." hissed Scourgeclaw as he glared at the ShadowClan cats who had started to pick up their pieces of prey. Just as they were about to leave. Goldenclaw leaped out from behind a bush startling the three cats.

"Stop, what do you think your doing hunting in our territory?" he hissed threatening. Scourgeclaw noticed that one of the warriors was the tom that he had let get away in the fight with ShadowClan at the camp. The other one was a female ginger she-cat, and the apprentice was a small gray and she-cat. The ginger she-cat placed her prey down before answering Goldenclaw.

"Your territory? The last I heard Sunningrocks belong to RiverClan." she meowed back mockingly.

"Then you've been miss informed." he growled giving her a piercing stare. "and ThunderClan won't tolerate ShadowClan hunting in our territory." The gray tom with a black tail placed his prey down before snarling back a reply to Goldenclaw.

"Oh yeah and whose going to stop us…you?" he hissed back mockingly. Currently Willowpelt and Scourgeclaw had been hidden in the bushes and had just decided to come out from the bushes after the tom had finished speaking.

"I think the three of us are more than enough to deal with you." Goldenclaw meowed coolly. The gray tom turn to face Scourgeclaw.

"Huh, yeah right we can take the three of you." he sniffed. The ginger she-cat turned to look at her clanmate.

"Stonetail, we aren't here for a fight." she hissed under her breath. Stonetail whipped his head around to glare at her, but the ginger she-cat ignored him. "We have not come here to fight" she repeated. "Only to hunt in the territory that was promised to us by RiverClan." she meowed stiffly.

"Then RiverClan has deceived you, this is ThunderClan territory and you are trespassing. So I suggest you drop the prey you stole and leave our territory." Scourgeclaw hissed. "Before we take it from you and send you back to your Clan in shreds." Stonetail glared fiercely at Scourgeclaw hissing at him.

"I like to see you try." he snarled back. Scourgeclaw sat down and looked at his claws.

"I've already given you that scar on your flank" he meowed glancing at the three long scars on the tom's flank "if you'd like I could give you a matching mark on the other side." he meowed icily. Stonetail looked ready to spring at Scourgeclaw, but was prevented from doing so when his clanmate got in between him and the black warrior.

"This is not the time to be starting a fight." meowed the ginger she-cat as she

stared at Stonetail. She turned to face the ThunderClan warriors. "We will leave the territory with the prey we were promised." she meowed curtly. Goldenclaw shook his head.

"I think not Amberpelt." he meowed. Willowpelt hissed.

"You attack our camp, then you have the audacity to steal our prey and say that it belongs to you? If you think your leaving with that prey then your gravely mistaken." she growled. Amberpelt flatted her ears to her skull glaring icily at Willowpelt. Stonetail took a step forward.

"If you want this prey you'll have to pry it from our lifeless claws." he growled.

"That can be arranged." hissed a icy voice from behind the ThunderClan warriors. Scourgeclaw looked behind him and wanted to growl. Tigerclaw, Darkstripe and Longtail had arrived along with Mousefur, who came to stand beside Scourgeclaw. ThunderClan's newest deputy padded forward moving pass Goldenclaw. "Would you like for us to take up that offer?" Stonetail hesitated as he took in the reinforcements. Amberpelt realized in despair that they were trapped and wouldn't make it out alive if they fought. The apprentice who had been quietly watching everything dropped the prey she had been holding and sprang to her mentor's side looking fearful.

'Fine we will leave your territory and give you the prey, just allow us safe passage." she meowed stiffly. Stonetail's tail twitched in agitation and the apprentice glanced looked at her briefly before turning back to face the other ThunderClan warriors. Tigerclaw stared at her for a moment before answering.

"Fine, Darkstripe, Goldenclaw, Willowpelt, Longtail and I will escort you to the ShadowClan border." he growled sharply before turning and facing the other ThunderClan warriors "Mousefur you and Scourgeclaw take the prey back to camp." Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes as he walked pass Tigerclaw and the ShadowClan warriors and began to gather their prey. Stonetail growled at him as the black warrior walked passed him. The ShadowClan warriors warily stalked forward and the ThunderClan warriors surround them from every side with Tigerclaw in the lead.

Mousefur started picking up prey and heading toward the camp with Scourgeclaw padding alongside her. Just as they reached the camp Bluestar and Firepaw were returning from their training session. Bluestar waved her tail in greeting.

"I thought you were on a border patrol and where are Goldenclaw and Willowpelt?" she asked. Scourgeclaw placed his prey on the ground before answering her.

" We found some ShadowClan warriors hunting at Sunningrocks, they claim that RiverClan gave them permission to hunt there, so they said that the prey was theirs." Scourgeclaw meowed

"Yes and Goldenclaw sent me to get reinforcements and I found Tigerclaw, Longtail and Darkstripe. Tigerclaw took them, Goldenclaw and Willowpelt, to escort the ShadowClan cats back to their border." Mousefur finished. Bluestar blinked slowly. Firepaw blinked in shock.

"How did they get that far into our territory without anyone seeing anything?" she meowed sternly?

"To be fair Bluestar, we are still repairing the camp and we still have to keep the fresh-kill pile full." meowed Scourgeclaw "It would be difficult to keep up with all of these patrols." Bluestar looked at Scourgeclaw for a moment before nodding.

"I suppose your right Scourgeclaw. We are still repair the camp and we won't be able to keep up with those patrols properly until the came is back in order." she meowed "For now we will continue on as we have been." Bluestar picked up some prey heading into the tunnel. Firepaw picked up some prey as well and followed his mentor into the camp. Scourgeclaw and Mousefur picked the prey that was left and placed it into the fresh-kill pile. Scourgeclaw then headed for the warrior's den to get a nice long rest.

(I was going to continue further with this but I felt that this was far enough.

This was more of a filler chapter. I hope to get the next one up soon.

Let me know what you think.)


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for taking so long to update I've been very sick to the point I didn't want to move let alone do another chapter. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 11

Scourgeclaw awoke in surprise to find that Mousefur was sleeping in the nest that previously belonged to Mossflower. Which meant that she was sleeping right next to him. This shocked him considering Mousefur usually slept in between Longtail and Runningwind. Shaking away his surprise he padded out of the warriors den giving himself a nice stretch. It was getting close to sunhigh, so Scourgeclaw decided to get some fresh-kill before he went hunting. He came over to the fresh-kill pile and pulled out a mouse and found a warm spot to tear into it.

He had just finished swallowing the last mouthful when Runningwind came padding up to him.

"Hey Scourgeclaw, have you seen Brindleface's kits yet?" he asked. Scourgeclaw licked his jaws, cleaning the last scraps of mouse off his face before responding.

"No, I haven't seen them yet. I just crawled out of my nest not too long ago." Scourgeclaw answered. "I was just about to go on a hunt." Runningwind nodded in understanding.

"I just saw them a moment ago, while visiting Mossflower, they look nice and strong," Runningwind meowed. "You should go see them before you go out to hunt." Scourgeclaw looked at him a moment before nodding. 'I don't understand why their so thrilled about their being more mouths to feed, but I suppose I can go see them and Mossflower.' he thought briefly as he headed toward the nursery.

As he approached the nursery, he saw Whitestorm guarding the entrance to the nursery. He dipped his head in greeting to Scourgeclaw as he approached.

"Good morning Scourgeclaw, are you here to see the kits?" he asked. Scourgeclaw wordlessly nodded. "That's fine, but you'll have to wait since Firepaw just went in and I'm only allowing one cat at a time down to Brindleface." Scourgeclaw's ears perked up when he heard Firepaw's name mentioned.

"That's fine I can wait." Scourgeclaw meowed. He glanced around the clearing. Goldenclaw was taking Sandpaw out for some hunting for Whitestorm. Mousefur and Runningwind were heading out for a border patrol.

Suddenly Firepaw emerged from the nursery with a warm expression upon his face.

"Hello Scourgeclaw, the kits are wonderful." he purred softly. Scourgeclaw nodded

"So I've heard. How is Mossflower?" Scourgeclaw asked.

"She's fine, she asked me to tell you to come visit her soon." Firepaw answered. "I'd love to talk some more, but Bluestar is waiting for me." Firepaw touched his tail to Scourgeclaw's shoulder as he padded by him. Scourgeclaw watched him go before turning to Whitestorm. Whitestorm gave him a nod to enter into the nursery. Scourgeclaw padded forward slipping into the den like an adder.

Four tiny kits were wriggling into Brindleface's belly. Three of the kits were pale gray with darker flecks, like their mother, the last one was a tiny dark gray kit. Scourgeclaw looked at the kits with a little curiosity and surprise. He had almost forgotten how small kits were. He gave Brindleface a gentle look, which the tired queen warmly returned.

"You must be proud of these kits." he meowed. She purred softly in reply. "I'm sure they'll make great warriors"

"Thank you Scourgeclaw." she purred softly. He noticed that the tiny dark gray kit was wriggling away from Brindleface's body. With gentleness, that he didn't think he was capable of, he pushed the kit back into Brindleface's belly.

"Hello Scourgeclaw, I was beginning to think that you had forgotten that there was a nursery." a soft teasing voice called from a nest not far from Brindleface. Scourgeclaw came over to sit in front of Mossflower and was beginning to make out a slight roundness in her belly. "Did Firepaw find you?"

"No, Runningwind told me about Brindleface's kits and I decided to come see them myself." he meowed. Mossflower began to purr when he mentioned the new kits.

"Their beautiful aren't they?" she meowed wistfully. "I can hardly wait for my own kits." Scourgeclaw looked around the nursery and saw Goldenflower leading her kits out of the nursery. Frostfur's kits were sleeping in their mother's nest peacefully. Scourgeclaw sighed uncomfortably, not use to being in the nursery and watching the queens fuss over their kits.

"I better go, I should be hunting." he meowed quietly, moving back out of the nursery den. Mossflower watched him go with a sigh, knowing it must be difficult for him to be around the nursery, since his own kithood was so miserable. She could only hope that he would open up a bit more. She sighed and crawled out of the nursery. She stood in front of the entrance letting the sun warm her fur. She purred softly as she thought of her kits. 'I can't wait to be a mother.' she thought peacefully. 'I'm sure Runningwind will make a great father.' she thought to herself.

Suddenly she wondered who her own father is or had been. She never saw Bluestar being affectionate to any tom in the Clan, so she wonder whether her father was still alive or not. She looked over in the direction of the elder's den and wondered if they knew who he was. 'If I ask them about Bluestar's kits they may tell me who their father was.' She padded to the elder's den and called a greeting into the den.

"Come in Mossflower, we were just talking about you." called Dappletail. Mossflower stepped in and was surprised by how happy the elders were to see her.

"Congratulations, on your new kits." meowed Patchpelt.

"Yes, its good to have some good news after losing two of our clanmates." meowed Smallear gravely. Mossflower purred softly.

"Thank you I, was just thinking about how good of a father Runningwind will be for our kits." she meowed

"He better be, I'm not too old to give him a good cuff against his head." growled Halftail teasingly. Mossflower purred affectionately.

"I'm sure he'll be as good of a father as Thrushpelt was to his kits." meowed Dappletail. Mossflower looked curiously at Dappletail.

"Thrushpelt?" she asked. Dappletail purred softly.

"He was a great warrior, fiercely loyal to ThunderClan and Bluestar." Dappletail purred. Mossflower blinked in surprise.

"Was he the father of Bluestar's kits?" she asked curiously. Dappletail nodded sadly.

"He was devastated when the kits went missing." Dappletail mewled. "It was a shame

That they lost their three kits." The other elder's mewled in agreement. Mossflower saved this information and continued to talk to the elder's before heading out to lie in the sun. 'Did Thrushpelt know that Bluestar gave me up? Or did she do this without his knowledge?' she thought briefly. 'No he must have known, she wouldn't do that to her mate.' she sighed softly to herself, before deciding to lay out in the sun and let it warm up her pelt, she slowly began falling into a light sleep.

Mossflower awoke to a loud yowl that carried across the camp. Frostfur was franticly searching around the camp.

"My kits, my kits are missing." She yowled. Tigerclaw raced to her side, calling the Clan to him and quickly began to bark out orders. Goldenclaw was just returning with Sandpaw through the camp tunnel in the middle of the chaos. He quickly raced to Frostfur's side, when he noticed her distress.

"What's wrong what has happened?" he asked looking into her distressed blue eyes.

"Our kits Goldenclaw, someone has taken our kits." she wailed burying her face into his fur. Goldencalw stiffened in shock and a look of fury crossed over his face, before he leaned down and licked Frostfur's ears.

"Will get them back Frostfur, I'll make sure of it." he meowed. "ShadowClan will wish they never laid eyes on our kits" Frostfur said nothing only burying her muzzle deeper into his fur. Mossflower watched the pair for a moment before searching around the camp for any trace of the kits. Then Tigerclaw let loose a yowl from behind the nursery. Mossflower raced over to the nursery and the sight that awaited her filled her heart with despair. Tigerclaw stood over a lifeless dappled tortoiseshell bundle of fur. Spottedleaf was dead. Mossflower wanted to wail to the sky, but fought to keep it down knowing that there were kits who needed to be found before they could grieve for their fallen medicine cat, but even as she thought this she could feel herself becoming numb with grief for her friend. She looked around at the cats. She saw that Firepaw, looked devastated. She knew that he cared deeply for the beautiful tortoiseshell, and knew that he must be just as devastated that she was gone. She looked around a noticed that Scourgeclaw wasn't there and wondered briefly where he was. She almost hadn't registered Bluestar telling the Clan that Spottedleaf had been brought down by a warrior blow. Suddenly another yowl rang out.

"Yellowfang is gone." yowled a voice.

"She must have killed Spottedleaf and taken my kits" screeched Frostfur leaning against Goldenclaw. Her face twisted into a look of grief. The sky was darkening and the wind was blowing fiercely ruffling the pelts of the cats present. Drops of rain began to fall from the sky. Tigerclaw growled lowly..

"I knew that flea bitten rogue was trouble. This must have been her plan from the very beginning to sneak into our Clan!" Mossflower turned back to Firepaw and saw that he had a look of disbelief on his face. 'I don't think that ShadowClan would go through all that trouble to steal our kits.' she thought to herself. ' and while Yellowfang can be a bit grouchy she doesn't seem like the type to do something like this.' she silenced her thoughts as Bluestar began to speak.

"If Yellowfang did steal the kits and is the one responsible for the death of Spottedleaf then she will be hunted down and she won't be shown any mercy, but we will wait until the storm has passed I do not want to lose anymore warriors. " Mossflower could see the fierce determination in her mother's eye to get vengeance for Spottedleaf.

"We can't waste any time, her scent will be washed away." Tigerclaw growled. Bluestar regarded her deputy with a little impatient.

"Our efforts would be wasted, even if we left now the scent would be washed away in the storm, we will wait for the storm to pass, we'll have a better chance at finding her then." The clan murmured their agreements. The sky grew even darker and thunder and lightning began to flash. Mossflower saw Bluestar asked to speak with Tigerclaw privately. She watched Tigerclaw padded toward Bluestar's den but noticed that Bluestar wasn't following. Instead Bluestar padded over to Firepaw and seemed to hiss something urgently into his ear. She padded a little closer to them making sure to not make it seem like she was trying to listen in on the conversation.

"…I want you to bring back Yellowfang, Firepaw, she will come back to camp if you ask her to and if she is the one responsible for all of this I'll kill her myself , but I want to give her the chance to prove whether or not she is innocent." Bluestar meowed quietly to Firepaw.

"I'll do my best Bluestar." meowed Firepaw in response.

"Go look for her now" she ordered. " but be careful of enemy patrols. Our own warriors will remain here until the storm clears." Mossflower was shocked to hear that Bluestar was sending Firepaw out to look for Yellowfang. She momentarily wondered what Scourgeclaw would think of this, when she realized with a jolt that Scourgeclaw still wasn't in camp. 'Where could he be?' she thought with a bit of worry. As she pondered where he could be she heard some of the other cats talking.

"Yellowfang must have had some help." Speckletail growled . Frostfur gave her an anxious look.

"You think someone from ThunderClan helped her?" she asked. Speckletail nodded.

"Do you think it was Ravenpaw?" meowed a voice. Speckletail nodded again.

"You heard what Tigerclaw's been saying about him. It would surprise me if he was involved with this. I haven't felt comfortable around him either." she growled. Mossflower looked on, her eyes widened in shock. 'They can't be serious. Ravenpaw is a loyal cat he would never do anything to betray his Clan.' She turned and headed toward the leader den. She decided she was going to speak to Bluestar about Ravenpaw. She had just started toward Bluestar's den, when a loud screeching sound rang out in the air. Whipping around she saw Frostfur angrily chasing Ravenpaw away from the nursery. She watched in complete dismay that her clanmates really believed that Ravenpaw had betrayed them all. She watched the poor apprentice take off into the apprentice den. Mossflower decided to go to Ravenpaw and comfort him. She saw Firepaw and Graypaw head into the den ahead of her. As she approached she could here the three talking to each other.

"Ravenpaw we're taking you to Barley your not safe here anymore." meowed Firepaw.

"But, why wouldn't he be safe here anymore? I don't understand." meowed Graypaw.

"Tigerclaw killed Redtail, Ravenpaw saw him do it. He must suspect that Ravenpaw saw him do it so he's trying to get rid of him." Once again Mossflower was experiencing shock. 'Tigerclaw killed Redtail? Why would he do such a thing? Would he do such a thing?' Deep down she knew the answer to that question. If Tigerclaw was anything like what Scourgeclaw told her then he would be capable of killing another cat. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost missed hearing Firepaw tell Graypaw his plan to sneak out to take Ravenpaw to Barley and to find Yellowfang and the kits. She backed away from the den, just as the three were leaving. She watched as they moved as quickly as they could toward the entrance. They were almost there when, they were stopped by Tigerclaw.

"And just were do you three think your going?" Tigerclaw growled. Mossflower quickly made her way over to the them.

"Oh good thinking Firepaw. I'm sure you'll have better luck with those two for help." Mossflower said making herself look as though she was sick. She turned to Tigerclaw. "I asked Firepaw to find me some juniper berries for my stomachache. I got Bluestar's permission to send him out." she meowed. Tigerclaw sniffed.

"Fine, but they better come right back here." Tigerclaw growled as he walked away. Mossflower watched him go a moment before turning back to the three apprentices.

"Scourgeclaw's somewhere out there Firepaw, I'm sure he'll help you with what ever your planning." she meowed Firepaw's eyes brightened and he touched his nose to Mossflower's.

"Thank you Mossflower, I'll tell you everything later." Firepaw murmured. Mossflower nodded before nudging Firepaw toward entrance.

"Hurry before he comes back." The three apprentices turned and raced through the tunnel heading toward WindClan territory. 'Oh StarClan please let them be alright.' she thought.

Scourgeclaw was burying his catch underneath the tree he had taken shelter under. 'It just had to rain while I was out of camp.' he thought with a hiss. The wind was blowing fiercely as he sat underneath a oak tree. 'I suppose I'll just have to wait till the storm dies down a bit. He had been hunting near Fourtrees when the storm broke out and he had been waiting out the storm there since. Suddenly heard some voices heading in his direction. He crouched low and pushed himself up against the tree he was standing under, since he wasn't sure if the cats approaching were from ThunderClan or not. He then spotted the familiar pelt of Firepaw heading toward Fourtrees, with Graypaw and Ravenpaw running along side him. He overheard some of their conversation.

"How will we know if Barley will even let Ravenpaw stay?" asked Graypaw.

"I don't know but, he's safer with Barley then in ThunderClan. The longer he stays in ThunderClan the more likely Tigerclaw will try and get rid of him." Firepaw meowed. Scourgeclaw became very curious after this. 'Tigerclaw is trying to get rid of Ravenpaw? That's a surprise but, not unbelievable. I wonder why Tigerclaw wants to get rid of him? And who is this Barley cat?' He thought to himself. Suddenly he had a memory of a black and white tom, along with a small, pale orange tabby she-cat with thin darker orange stripes and small white paws. He remembers having two of his cats kill the ginger she-cat for disobeying his orders and making the black and white tom watch it all. 'Could it really be him?' he wonders briefly. He decided to follow the trio to see where they were going.

They had stopped just within Fourtrees.

"We can't go with you any further, Ravenpaw we still have to find the kit's and Yellowfang." meowed Firepaw. "Do you think you can make it to Barley's from here?" Ravenpaw gave a sharp nod.

"Yes I can make it there, I can remember the way, but what if he doesn't want me there?" Ravenpaw anxiously asked. Graypaw gave him a lick on the ear.

"Just tell him that you caught an adder once." Graypaw meowed. Ravenpaw told his friends goodbye before starting off toward the Barley's farm, when he stopped again.

"What if Tigerclaw comes after me?" he mewled nervously. Firepaw looked deep into his friend's eye.

"He won't, I will tell him that you are dead." Scourgeclaw's ears perked up a little with that comment and decided to make his presence known.

"Will someone explain to me what is going on?" he drawled. Coming up behind the apprentices. Firepaw, Graypaw and Ravenpaw jumped at the sound of his voice. They stared nervously at each other. Scourgeclaw gave them a look. "Well?" he asked again.

Firepaw gazed at both his friends, wondering if he should tell Scourgeclaw the truth and whether or not Scourgeclaw would believe him. He then remembered what Mossflower had said about have Scourgeclaw help him. He just hoped that she was right.

"Well, you see it's a long story, and there isn't enough time to explain it all, but, Ravenpaw saw Tigerclaw kill Redtail and because of that, Tigerclaw is trying to get rid of him. Frostfur's kits went missing and Spottedleaf is…" Firepaw took in a deep breath trying not to let his emotions overwhelm him. "S-She's dead. I saw Yellowfang leaving the Clan not long after the kits were missing and…"

"And the Clan thinks that Yellowfang took the kits and killed Spottedleaf." Scourgeclaw finished figuring out the rest for himself, "But that still doesn't explain why you three are out here."

"We wanted to protect Ravenpaw ,so we were taking him to a loner we met on our trip to Highstones." Scourgeclaw nodded in acceptance of that.

"And?"

"And Bluestar asked me to find Yellowfang and ask her to come back to camp to find out whether or not she took the kits." Firepaw finished. Scourgeclaw thought about this for a moment before answering.

"I will help you." he meowed at last before turning to Ravenpaw. "Go on Ravenpaw head to the loner's place. Firepaw you and Graypaw come with me. We don't have much time." he took off with Graypaw and Firepaw at his heels.

It wasn't long before the three reached the Thunderpath. They crept up to the side and began to look for monster's. Graypaw nudged Firepaw.

"What are we going to do?" he whispered. "Scourgeclaw hasn't cross the Thunderpath before." Scourgeclaw snorted.

"I'll have you know that I was crossing Thunderpath's before you were weaned off your mother's milk." he growled. Looking both ways down the Thunderpath. "We'll cross together." Firepaw and Graypaw nodded, they each moved close to Scourgeclaw's side.

After a few monsters passed on the thunder path, they raced quickly across the Ihunderpath. They quickly began to move around taking in the air around them before they found Yellowfang's scent.

"Follow me, and keep a look out." meowed Scourgeclaw before he began following Yellowfang's scent into ShadowClan territory. Graypaw leaned over to Firepaw.

"I never though I'd ever come to ShadowClan territory without a proper patrol." he murmured.

"We'll be fine Graypaw we're not alone." Firepaw whispered back.

"I forgot to mention that we should be silent, wile we're hear. But I thought that the two of you were smart enough to figure that out for yourselves." Scourgeclaw hissed glaring at the two of tem with irritation. Graypaw nodded slowly Firepaw rolled his eyes. "One of you watch for ShadowClan patrol's , the other look out for any sign of ThunderClan, since I'm sure their waiting until the storm passes before they send a patrol." The two nodded, in agreement and continued onward.

Suddenly Scourgeclaw signaled with his tail for them to halt. He nod his head forward. They could see wet clumpy gray fur that was huddled behind a ash tree. Scourgeclaw signaled quietly for them to spread out around her. Together they moved as one toward the unsuspecting she-cat, together they pounced on her effectively trapping her beneath the three of them. Yellowfang hissed and spat, twisting her body around trying to dislodge the three cats.

"Let me up right now." She hissed.

"Not, until you tell us what you did with the kits." hissed Graypaw.

"I haven't done anything with the kits." growled Yellowfang. "I've come to find the kits."

"Then why did you run away?" asked Firepaw.

"And why did you kill Spottedleaf?" asked Graypaw. Yellowfang stopped thrashing around .

"Spottedleaf is dead?" Yellowfang meowed in shock. Scourgeclaw watched her curiously.

"You didn't know did you?" asked Scourgeclaw surprisingly. Yellowfang shook her head slowly.

"No, when I heard that the kits had gone missing I started to investigate around the nursery and I caught the scent of Clawface, he is one of Brokenstar's warriors, I figure he must have taken them and went to follow him." she meowed. "The longer those kits are their the more danger they are in."

"ShadowClan wouldn't hurt them, would they? I mean their only kits." Graypaw meowed. Yellowfang snorted

"Brokenstar has driven an entire Clan out of its territory. Kits and all and you don't think he would be capable of harming kits? Kits have a habit of getting hurt and disappearing around Brokenstar. He's even killed kits from his own Clan" she spat in anger. Graypaw and Firepaw stared at her in alarm. Scourgeclaw blinked in surprise.

"He killed ShadowClan kits?" Scourgeclaw meowed.

"Yes, he lied and said that I killed them." she hissed. "He took the kits, of our queen Brightflower, out for a training session and he brought them to me afterward. They both had wounds warriors should have. Their was nothing I could do for them they were already in the paws of StarClan.." she mewled solemnly.

"Why would he train kits? The warrior code says that an apprentice must be six moons old before they can be trained as an apprentice." demanded Graypaw.

"You think Brokenstar doesn't know that? He has abandoned the warrior code in every way except that his word is law." growled Yellowfang. "He's been training kits to be warriors since he became leader.

"But Frostfur's kits are only three moons old."

"That doesn't matter he's been training kits three moons old as apprentices and two moons later he sends them out as warriors." meowed Yellowfang. Scourgeclaw raised his muzzle into the air and breathed in the scent near them.

"A ThunderClan patrol will be hear soon, I can smell them coming." Scourgeclaw mewled softly.

"We better move then, if Tigerclaw is on the patrol he'll kill Yellowfang first and ask questions later." Firepaw meowed. Yellowfang flicked her tail in one direction..

"Follow me, they'll lose our scent in the peat, it wall disguise our scent." she meowed leading them forward.

They moved as quickly as they could through the soft peat. They could hear the voices of a patrol coming toward them and they picked up their pace as silently as they could.

They came upon a tree trunk with a enough room between the roots for the four cats to squeeze under. They could still hear the patrol coming from a good distance away.

"What are we gonna do now? We can't rescue the kits by ourselves can we?" asked Graypaw. Yellowfang stared unblinkingly into Graypaw's eyes.

"No, I know some cats from the inside that may be able to help us. ShadowClan isn't as united as you may think." meowed Yellowfang.

"There's also the ThunderClan patrol, as long as _Tigerclaw _isn't apart of it." meowed Scourgeclaw he had spat Tigerclaw's name as if it was the most disgusting thing to have been in his mouth. Graypaw and Firepaw were shocked by how much disgust Scourgeclaw had for Tigerclaw, while Yellowfang looked on with a bit of amusement in her eyes.

"He's right but first I must find my friend's within ShadowClan" she meowed. Graypaw shook away his shock and watched her suspiciously.

"How do we know your going to come back?" he demanded.

"You must have faith in me, all of you must have faith in me." she meowed as she looked each of them in the eye. "There isn't much time left before that patrol makes it here, and then I'll have no chance to find us any allies with in the camp. You must trust me." Scourgeclaw watched her for a few seconds before giving her a nod.

"Go then and find your allies." Scourgeclaw meowed emotionlessly. Firepaw nodded and Graypaw looked at the two with confusion. Yellowfang nodded and raced away. Scourgeclaw watched her go before turning to the two apprentices.

"Stay here, I will get the patrol." he meowed before sprinting away. He followed the scent trail of the ThunderClan patrol. Moving as quickly as he could through the soft peaty ground , while looking out for any ShadowClan cats that might be around. The scent began to get stronger as he continued on and picked up his pace. When he was close enough he was able to distinguish which cats were apart of the patrol. 'Good Tigerclaw's not with them' he thought as he approached the patrol. The cats pelts bristled in shock as they spun around.

"Scourgeclaw what are you doing here?" hissed Whitestorm as he glared at the black warrior.

*I'm going to stop right here for now, *

When I reread the first series something occurred to me that I hadn't really noticed when I first read the series.

In at least the first two books of the original series I think that it was implied that their were more cats in ThunderClan then there were mention in the alligences. This is what brought on my idea for Goldenclaw partially because of this and the fact that we still don't know who the father of Cinderpelt, Brakenfur, Thornclaw and Brightflower are. I had originally intended for Goldenclaw to be they're father, but a startling new piece of info made me change my mind about that.

Some people believe that their father was Lionheart, at first I thought that it couldn't be him because he died in the first book and Thornclaw and Brightheart don't become apprentices until forest of secrets.

However something hit me all of a sudden while I was looking over the books. I remembered that:

1. Into the wild book says that Four of Frostfur's kits were stolen by ShadowClan, FOUR not two kits.

2. When Bluestar told Fireheart and Graystripe that they were going to be mentor's she said that ' Frostfur thinks that two of her kits were ready to be made apprentices.'

3. Brakenfur and Cinderpelt were five moons old when they were apprenticed.

4. Thornclaw and Brightheart are older than Cloudtail which wouldn't be the case if they were born in a separate litter.

This implies that Brightheart and Thornclaw were all born in the same litter as Brackenfur and Cinderpelt which were all born before Lionheart died so there is a very good chance he is their father. It took me reading the books a second time for me to notice this.

But as the story goes on GoldenClaw has made his purpose known he is the father of Frostfur's kits, interesting.

In the next chapter the kits will be rescued and Scourgeclaw will have a surprise visitor.


	12. Chapter 12

I am still ill but I'm much better then I was a while ago. i want everyone to disregard what I said in the last chapter at the very end. It will continue as I planned it. I blame my constant drabble on the fact that I wrote the last chapter at midnight and couldn't get any sleep.

Chapter 12

Scourgeclaw glanced around at the other cats in the patrol. Darkstripe, Runningwind, Willowpelt and Mousefur were there. Mousefur looked relieved and curious to see him. Scourgeclaw looked back at Whitestorm.

"I'm here because Bluestar ask-" Whitestorm purred and touched his tail to Scourgeclaw's shoulder.

"Say no more, Bluestar told us that we would have friends out here." Scourgeclaw nodded and gestured forward with his tail.

"Follow me I left Firepaw and Graypaw waiting for me close by." Scourgeclaw meowed. Whitestorm nodded and motioned for the patrol to follow. Mousefur bounded up to pad beside him. She leaned in and whispered softly.

"Where were you ? " she hissed under her breath. Scourgeclaw fought not to roll his eyes.

"I was out hunting when I ran into Firepaw and Graypaw and they told me about Yellowfang, the kits and Spottedleaf.." Mousefur nodded.

"She'll pay for killing Spottedleaf and stealing the kits." Scourgeclaw sighed.

" She didn't take the kits, and she didn't kill Spottedleaf." he meowed quietly. Mousefur looked at him in shock.

"How do you know that?" she asked curiously.

"Because she told me-" Mousefur cut him off.

"And you believe the word of that rogue?" she hissed. Scourgeclaw gave her a sharp look.

"I was once a rogue, you shouldn't forget that," he said coolly. Mousefur flinched a little at the tone "And I do think she was telling the truth . You didn't see the look of surprise on her face when we told her Spottedleaf was dead. I don't think she killed her or took the kits." he finished. Mousefur shook her head before giving Scourgeclaw a cool look.

"For the sake of those kits you best be right." she meowed before slowing her pace to match Runningwind's.

Before long they had reached the spot where Scourgeclaw had left Firepaw and Graypaw. Scourgeclaw was surprised to see that Yellowfang had returned with several cats with her. The ThunderClan patrol race forward and hissed threateningly at the newcomers. Firepaw and Graypaw darted between the cats. Scourgeclaw padded forward to speak with Yellowfang. He saw several elder looking cats and looked surprised to see familiar warriors. One of which stiffened as he saw him approach and hissed.

"You again?" Hissed a familiar gray tom.

"this isn't the time Stonetail." meowed a she-cat.

"It's never the time Amberpelt." Stonetail grumbled. Scourgeclaw watched the two with an emotionless mask before turning his attention to Yellowfang.

"Are these your supporters?" he asked calmly. Yellowfang nodded watching the ThunderClan patrol warily.

"Yes," she meowed. She turned her attention to the cats she had brought with her. "These elder cats are Ashfur, Dawncloud and one of ShadowClan's senior warriors, Nightpelt. The younger warriors are Amberpelt, Stonetail and Flintfang." she finished. Whitestorm padded for confuse and suspicious.

"What is going on here?" he demanded looking at Scourgeclaw for an explanation. Scourgeclaw sighed and turned to face the ThunderClan patrol.

"Listen, apparently ShadowClan is falling apart from within the Clan. Yellowfang was framed for the murder of kits in ShadowClan that Brokenstar killed, which is why she was banished. Also Brokenstar seems to have turned away from the warrior code entirely and is forcing kits to apprentices at less than three moons and is making the warriors at an even younger age. Who knows what they'll do to Frostfur's kits." Scourgeclaw meowed. Mousefur and Willowpelt looked horrified. The rest of the patrol looked just as shocked. Dawncloud stepped forward.

"What he say's is true I've already lost kits from the fight with WindClan." she meowed solemnly. "I do not want to lose anymore."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything?" meowed Whitestorm.

"Brokenstar's word is law remember," meowed Yellowfang "And it goes further than that he is now reinforcing a new rule that every cat takes care of themselves. If you can't hunt you have no right to prey. As a result the elder's have been banished from the camp."

"Why are these three here then?" snorted Darkstripe as he looked at Amberpelt, Flintfang and Stonetail. "They're not elders, they should be able to look after themselves.

"We are here because we don't approve of the way Brokenstar is running the camp." Amberpelt meowed. "My own apprentice is too young to be an apprentice and Brokenstar has already planned for her to be made a warrior soon, I don't want to see her die so soon. Her brother Badgerpaw, was already killed. He was Flintfang's apprentice."

"It never would have happened if he had been six moons old and given the proper training he needed." meowed Flintfang solemnly. Yellowfang stepped forward looking at each cat individually.

"The stolen kits are our priority this moment." she meowed. "We won't be able to sneak them out without some of the other cats noticing." Scourgeclaw watched her closely.

"Then what do you purpose we do?" he asked.

"I'll let my clanmates, bring me into the camp. As soon as I give a signal then the ThunderClan patrol to attack." she finished. Whitestorm nodded slowly.

"This will be dangerous, are you sure we can take on a whole Clan?" asked Whitestorm

"Yes, I am confident that we can do this. ShadowClan is run by Brokenstar and a few elite warriors, everyone else will fight for Brokenstar, but if they see that he may lose this fight.." Yellowfang mewled

"Then they'll help us." finished Scourgeclaw. Darkstripe snorted

"Where's the loyalty in that?" he sniffed. Stonetail let out a low growl and looked as though he was going to attack Darkstripe, but he relaxed when Amberpelt touched her tail to his shoulder.

"We are loyal to the warrior code. The warrior code says that we obey our leader., but Brokenstar hasn't been acting like a leader. So why should we show him loyalty?" Amberpelt meowed coolly gazing fiercely into his eyes. Whitestorm moved until he was between the two.

"You should be saving that energy for the battle ahead of us." he meowed turning his fierce amber gaze at the pair of them. Amberpelt merely nodded in acknowledgement. Darkstripe glanced away.

"We must not waste anymore time. The longer those kits are in ShadowClan the more danger they are in." Mousefur spoke up.

"She is right, " Yellowfang meowed. " we must make haste, Come we will lead you to the camp." she turn and headed toward the ShadowClan camp.

It wasn't long before they were within the sight of the ShadowClan camp. Yellowfang turned to face the others.

"ThunderClan should wait here for the signal." she meowed. She began forward followed closely by the other ShadowClan cats forming a circle around her as if she were their prisoner. The ThunderClan warriors grew tense as they saw they last of the ShadowClan rebellion's tails slip out of sight into the camp.

A few moments passed before a loud yowl rang out in the sky. The ThunderClan patrol came charging forward with Whitestorm in the lead before they came bursting through the entrance to the ShadowClan camp. Scourgeclaw's eyes widened in surprise at the chaos that seemed to consume the camp, but he quickly shook himself off before flinging himself on an brown tabby tom with a stumpy looking tail. The tom hissed and spat slashing with his forepaws trying to rake through Scourgeclaw's pelt. Scourgeclaw dodge raking his long sharp claws down the toms left flank, sinking his fangs into the toms shoulder. With a screech , the tom flipped his body over. Scourgeclaw wriggled his body from beneath the tom, slashing out with his claws, catching the tom across the face, before digging them into his spine. The brown tabby gave a loud yowl, before managing to shake himself free and turned to flee from the fight. Scourgeclaw turned back into chaos moving to pounce on the large white tom with black paws, when he caught sight of his brother wrestling with a very familiar silver tabby. With a low growl , he leaped into the air landing on the shoulders of the silver tabby tom, knocking the tom off balance and pinning him to the ground. The silver tabby started to wriggle when he froze at the sight of his captor.

"Scourge, why are you….?" he was cut off by Scourgeclaw's paw covering his muzzle.

"You'd do well to stay silent Boulder, If you value your life" he hissed threateningly into his ear. " Why I'm here is of no concern to you and I should make sure you never return here again, but I'm feeling generous right now so I'll let you leave without injury." he finished and with a final growl he let Boulder up. Once free Boulder sprang away from Scourgeclaw, giving him one last fearful look before charging out of the camp. Scourgeclaw turned to see if Firepaw had heard anything that was said, but was surprised to see that his brother was close to ripping the throat out of a tom with many scars littering his face. He watched Whitestorm rip his brother away from the warrior before giving the scarred warrior a fierce bite. 'Why stop him?' hissed Scourgeclaw in frustration. He didn't have time to dwell on it though after catching the sight of Mousefur struggling with two big warriors.

He moved to assist her, but halt his actions when he felt a bite on his tail. Spinning around with the speed of an adder, claws unsheathed, he moved to score the pelt of the cat who had dared, to bite his tail. Only to find that it was one of the kit-apprentices of ShadowClan. He quickly sheathed his claws and batted the kit away from his tail.

"Be lucky that I don't hurt kits," he growled, glaring at the kit, who shivered a little under his cold gaze. " Stay out of this battle this isn't your fight." With a final glare at the kit, he spun back around and raced forwarded with claws unsheathed. He barreled onto the back of a brown tabby, sinking his teeth into the tom's scruff while, raking his sharp hind claws along the tom's spine. The tom let out a loud screech shook himself, try and dislodge Scourgeclaw from his back. Scourgeclaw sunk his teeth in deeper as the tom rolled onto his back to crush Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw squirmed from underneath tom's weight raking his claws along the tom's exposed belly fur. The tom gave a loud yowl before wrenching himself free from Scourgeclaw's grasp making a dash for the camp entrance. Scourgeclaw looked for Mousefur, and was relieved to see her chasing her other assailant out of the camp.

Suddenly a familiar screeching reached his ears and he turned and spotted Firepaw locked in battle with Brokenstar. Scourgeclaw saw that Yellowfang was lying on the ground close by to fighting. He raced forward, just as Firepaw seemed to be losing his footing. Scourgeclaw struck with claws unsheathed across Brokenstar's throat, sending the ShadowClan leader tumbling across the clearing. The combined Clan's watched as Brokenstar lay bleeding from his wound for a few moments before rising to stare at the gathering cats. Seeing that he was outnumbered he staggered toward the entrance before turning back and glaring at all present.

"This isn't over." he growled lowly before vanishing out the entrance to the camp. Once he had left the ShadowClan cats began to gather together. Scourgeclaw glanced around at the broken Clan, feeling almost sorry for them. He felt Firepaw's pelt brush against his side briefly, before he took off with Graypaw to find the kits. Scourgeclaw looked around and saw that, Amberpelt seemed to have injured her right forepaw, and Stonetail, had a bad bite on his shoulder, but they both wore looks of triumph on there face. Nightpelt walked up to Whitestorm.

"ShadowClan thanks you for helping us rid ourselves of Brokenstar. He will not return." he meowed. Whitestorm nodded as he looked around the ShadowClan camp.

"ShadowClan will need much time to recover. ThunderClan offers you a moon of peace." Whitestorm replied. Just as he finished Graypaw let out a yowl.

"We found the kits." he called. Whitestorm raced over and Graypaw began to lift the frighten kits out of the hole they were kept in.

"Yellowfang one of the kits has an injury." Graypaw meowed "Will you come and have a look at it." Yellowfang came quickly over and began to examine the injured kit. Runningnose, came over with some cobwebs and herbs to give to Yellowfang. Scourgeclaw came over to have a look at the kits. There were two she-kits and two toms one of toms a golden brown tabby was injured on its ear. Yellowfang quickly fixed up the kit. Nightpelt padded over to speak with Yellowfang.

"Well Yellowfang, Brokenstar confessed to killing Brightflower's kits. The whole Clan are willing to welcome you back if you wish it." he meowed. Yellowfang looked around at her former clanmates before shaking her head.

"No, I will return to ThunderClan, ShadowClan isn't my clan any longer and ThunderClan is in need of a medicine cat if I'll be welcomed." she meowed looking at Whitestorm.

"Of course you will, Yellowfang. ThunderClan lets go home." meowed Whitestorm as the ThunderClan warriors began to gather around the white warrior. Yellowfang carried the injured tom while, Mousefur, Willowpelt and Runningwind carried the rest of the kits. Scourgeclaw took one look at the broken Clan before following the rest of his Clanmates out of the territory.

It wasn't long before they reached the Thunderclan camp. Frostfur lay miserably in the camps clearing with Goldenclaw licking her soft fur gently. As the patrol came bursting through the clearing, Frostfur rose to her paws and raced forward as the warriors placed her kits on the ground. Goldenclaw came racing up with her and together they began to lick and fuss over their kits. Mossflower came out of her nest in the nursery and raced over to the patrol. She gave Runningwind an affectionate lick on his cheek, before padding over quickly to Scourgeclaw and Firepaw. She cuffed Scourgeclaw on the ear.

"Where were you?" she hissed with fury. " Don't you know I was worried sick over you?" giving him a stern look. Scourgeclaw looked at her and felt a tinge of guilt. He didn't meet her gaze, deciding to look at Tigerclaw who had his gaze fixed on Yellowfang.

"Why is she here? She should be killed for her crimes." Tigerclaw growled. Firepaw stepped in between Tigerclaw and Yellowfang.

"Yellowfang didn't steal the kits or kill Spottedleaf. It was the ShadowClan warrior Clawface,." he meowed looking Tigerclaw fearlessly into the eye. "and if you don't believe me look under Spottedleaf's claws the fur should be brown not gray." Mousefur took off to check Spottedleaf's body.

"He's right the fur is brown." she meowed.

"Then Yellowfang is owed an apology and a thank you for helping us retrieve our stolen kits." meowed Bluestar from the top of the high rock. "Yellowfang I humbly ask you to take Spottedleaf's place as the medicine cat of ThunderClan." Yellowfang bowed low to Bluestar.

"I accept Bluestar and I thank you." she meowed before padding over to the medicine den. Bluestar looked around the camp, before asking curiously.

"Where is Ravenpaw?" she meowed curiously. Tigerclaw's ears perked up a little in response to her question.

"Yes where is he?" Tigerclaw growled. "Isn't it interesting that he can't be found after we recovered the kits." Firepaw fixed his gaze on Tigerclaw.

"He didn't take the kits, and he wasn't helping ShadowClan. He was killed by their patrol Graypaw and I saw him while we were searching for Yellowfang." he hissed glancing at Scourgeclaw and Mossflower. Tigerclaw looked away with a hiss.

"I never said that he betrayed us." he meowed with a hint of sorrow. "he will be missed." Scourgeclaw gave a mental snort 'Yeah but not by you.'

"Indeed he will" meowed Bluestar as she climbed down from the high rock to stand beside Whitestorm. "How did they do Whitestorm?"

"They fought like warriors Bluestar." he meowed. Bluestar's eye seemed to glow brighter.

"I think the time has come for two of our apprentices to be warriors." she meowed. Sandpaw and Dustpaw looked excitedly at their leader, but were surprised to see she wasn't looking at them. "Firepaw and Graypaw pleased step forward." Graypaw and Firepaw looked at each other briefly before padding forward shivering with excitement. Firepaw glanced at Mossflower who wore a proud expression on her face. Scourgeclaw who sat beside her had an empty expression, but Firepaw saw a flicker of happiness in his

eyes. The two stood as straight as they could as Bluestar stepped in front of them.

"I Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. they have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in turn."" Graypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?" " I do " Meowed Graypaw" Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Graypaw, from now on, you will be known as Graystripe." Bluestar touched her muzzle to Graystripe's head and Graystripe leaned down and licked Bluestar's shoulder before moving to stand beside Whitestorm.

" Firepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?" meowed Bluestar " I do " meowed Firepaw " Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Firepaw, from now on, you will be known as Fireheart. ThunderClan welcomes you both as a full warriors." Bluestar touched her muzzle to Fireheart's head as he leaned down to lick her shoulder. He padded over to sit beside Graystripe.

"Graystripe, Fireheart, Graystripe, Fireheart." chanted the Clan. Mossflower was chanting louder above her clanmates.

"Now, these two will have a silent vigil and guard over the camp as we rest for the night." meowed Bluestar. Scourgeclaw watched as Fireheart made a step toward Bluestar before veering a way and running over to Mossflower and Scourgeclaw.

"Scourgeclaw, will you tell Bluestar about Tigerclaw?" he asked Scourgeclaw watched him a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I think it would hold more weight if you told her instead of me. She'll just think I'm making up an accuse." meowed Scourgeclaw at last. Fireheart looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" Scourgeclaw looked over Fireheart's shoulder at Tigerclaw.

"I'll tell you later, now is the time for your vigil." He meowed at last.

"Scourgeclaw's right this is an important ceremony." meowed Mossflower gently giving Firepaw a gentle lick on the ear. "We're proud of you Fireheart."

"Thanks Mossflower, you too Scourgeclaw." he meowed before going to sit beside Graystripe. Mossflower turned her gaze at Scourgeclaw.

"Will you tell him?" she meowed curiously. Scourgeclaw merely nodded as he watched Tigerclaw say something to Fireheart before heading to the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw growled low under his breath, but calmed down as Mossflower placed her tail on his shoulder. He barely noticed Bluestar padding over to them until she was in front of him.

"Scourgeclaw, I would like to see you in my den tomorrow morning, I would tell you now but it can wait till tomorrow." she meowed locking her deep blue gaze with his icy blue gaze. Scourgeclaw gave he a nod of acknowledgement, before she padded back to her den. Mossflower gave him a lick on his ear before heading toward the nursery. Scourgeclaw looked around and watched as the other cats padded into their dens. He padded over to Graystripe and Fireheart.

"I'm going to take a walk, I'm not quite ready to sleep just yet." he told them The two glanced at each other before giving Scourgeclaw identical nods of understanding. Scourgeclaw brushed his tail over Fireheart's ears before heading toward the camp entrance heading into the dense forest.

Scourgeclaw padded through the oak trees, the wind ruffling his fur. The light of the moon made his pelt shine like obsidian . He was lost in his thoughts of what Firepaw, no Fireheart, had told him earlier and what had happened that night.

He had been wandering the forest for a while heading toward the twolegplace. He made his way into the pine forest where he heard a rustling in the bushes ahead of him. He froze as he took in the sight of familiar amber eyes accompanied by a dark brown tabby pelt. Scourgeclaw was startled to realize that he was staring at what would be the face of his enemy, but he was relaxed enough to sit and clean his face.

" What are you doing out here so late at night?" meowed the tom watching him closely with eyes shinning in the light of the moon. Scourgeclaw snorted.

"I could ask you the same thing," meowed Scourgeclaw. "What brings you to the forest Talon?"

~Yes what is he doing in the forest so late at night.

Talon makes an appearance. If you don't remember who he is, he is mentioned in the first chapter.

Let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

ALLEGIANCES

THUNDERCLAN

Leader: Bluestar- blue**-**gray she-cat, tinged with silver around the muzzle

Deputy: Tigerclaw-big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws

Medicine cat: Yellowfang- old dark gray she-cat with a broad flattened face

Warriors: Whitestorm - big white tom

Apprentice, Sandpaw

Darkstripe - sleek black and gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Dustpaw

Longtail- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes

Runningwind- swift light brown tabby tom

Willowpelt- very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Mousefur- small dusky brown she-cat

Scourgeclaw- small black tom with one white paw, ice blue eyes

Apprentice, Falconpaw

*Goldenclaw*- golden brown tabby tom

Fireheart -handsome ginger tom

Apprentice, Cinderpaw

Graystripe - long-haired gray tom

Apprentice, Brackenpaw

Apprentices: Sandpaw- pale ginger she-cat

Dustpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Swiftpaw - black and white tom

*Falconpaw*- golden brown tom with black stripe down back ice blue eyes

Cinderpaw -dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Brackenpaw - golden-brown tabby tom

Queens: Frostfur- beautiful white coat and blue eyes

Brindleface **-** pretty tabby

Goldenflower - pale ginger coat

Speckletail - pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen

Mossflower - white she-cat with gray patches, bright blue eyes

Elders: Halftail - big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear- gray tom with very small ears. The oldest cat in ThunderClan

Patchpelt- small black-and-white tom

One-eye- pale gray she-cat, The oldest she-cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail- once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat

SHADOWCLAN

Leader: Nightstar - black tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Flintfang - silver gray tom

Medicine cat: Runningnose- small gray and white tom

Warriors: Stumpytail- brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Brownpaw

Boulder- silver tabby tom

Wetfoot- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Oakpaw

*Stonetail*- light gray tom black tail

*Amberpelt*- ginger she-cat

Apprentice, Pinepaw

Brightflower- black and white she-cat

Littlecloud - very small tabby tom

*Mousefang*- brown and white she- cat

Apprentices: Brownpaw- small brown she-cat

Oakpaw- small brown tom

Pinepaw- gray and white she-cat

Queens: Dawncloud- small tabby

Darkflower- black she-cat

Tallpoppy- long legged light brown tabby she-cat

Elders: Ashfur- thin gray tom \

WINDCLAN

Leader: Tallstar- elderly black and white tom, very long tail

Deputy: Deadfoot- a black tom with a twisted paw

Medicine cat: Barkface- short-tailed brown tom

Warriors: Mudclaw- mottled dark brown tom

Apprentice, Webpaw

Tornear- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Runningpaw

Onewhisker - brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Whitepaw

*Graywind*- mottled gray tom

*Spottedwing* - tortoiseshell and white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Shrewpaw

Apprentices: Webpaw - dark gray tabby tom

Runningpaw- light gray tabby she-cat

Whitepaw- small white she-cat

*Shrewpaw*- dark gray tom

Queens: Morningflower - tortoiseshell she-cat

Ashfoot- gray she-cat

Elders: *Littlebreeze*- dull gray tom

*Rockfur*- scarred dark gray tabby

*Swift-tail*- a light brown tabby she-cat with black tail

RIVERCLAN

Leader: Crookedstar- a huge light-colored tabby tom with a twisted jaw

Deputy: Leopardfur- unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

Medicine cat: Mudfur- long-haired light brown tom

Warriors:Blackclaw- smoky black tom

Apprentice, Heavypaw

Stonefur- large, broad-shouldered gray tom with amber eyes and battle-scarred ears

Apprentice, Shadepaw

Loudbelly- a dark brown tom

Silverstream- slender silver tabby

Whiteclaw- dark warrior

*Icestream*- gray and white she-cat

Mosspelt- tortoiseshell she-cat

*Pebblestorm*- mottled dark gray tom

*Honeystream* - light brown she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Logpaw

*Trout-tail*- light gray tom with fluffy tail

*Shellfur*- mottled light gray tom

Apprentices: Heavypaw- thickset heavy tabby tom

Shadepaw- very dark gray she-cat

Silverpaw- silver tom

Logpaw- brown tabby tom with long, thick tail

Queens: Mistyfoot - dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Elders: Graypool -a gray she-cat with patched fur, scarred muzzle.

CATS OUTSIDE OF THE CLANS

Smudge- black and white tom

Barley- black and white tom that lives in barn close to forest

Brokenstar- long haired dark brown tabby, former leader of ShadowClan

Blackfoot- big white tom with black paws blue eyes, former deputy of ShadowClan

Clawface- battle-scarred brown tom

Ravenpaw- sleek black cat with white tipped tail

Princess- a light brown tabby with distinctive white chest and paws.

Ruby - gray she-cat amber eyes

Kana- brown and cream marbled tabby she-cat , blue eyes

Talon - dark brown tabby tom with a white chest, amber eyes

Cloudkit- Princess's firstborn kit, long furred white tom

Chapter 13

Scourgeclaw watched the dark tabby cat sitting before him closely. Talon had fully emerged from the bushes he had been hiding in, pushing them aside with his powerful broad shoulders. and padded forward silently to sit before Scourgeclaw. He seemed to be studying the black warrior closely.

"I asked you first." Talon meowed coyly, twitching his ear to get a leaf off of it. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes.

"You're in ThunderClan territory. You shouldn't be here." meowed Scourgeclaw. Talon's eyes seemed to brighten.

"Ah, but I have ThunderClan blood, so should be allowed here." Talon purred with amusement. "But, if you must know I'm here because I've been trying to find Moss. I haven't seen her for a long time now and just wanted to check in on her. You all we're suppose to see Kana awhile ago and when you didn't come she sent me to find her." Scourgeclaw blinked in surprise.

"She's fine, she joined ThunderClan, along with Rusty and myself." Scourgeclaw meowed. "She's called Mossflower now, and Rusty has become Fireheart. He just became a warrior tonight." Talon purred happily.

"So that little ginger fur-ball is a warrior now huh?" he meowed softly, Scourgeclaw gave him a nod. "I haven't seem him since he was five moons old."

"Yes he's grown a lot since then too."

"I suppose your name is no longer Scourge."

"You would be correct it's Scourgeclaw, now." Talon nodded his head.

"How's Moss, I mean Mossflower, enjoying ThunderClan?" Talon asked looking at his long claws. Scourgeclaw watched him a moment before answering.

"She's happy, she has a mate and kits on the way now." Talon looked up, blinking in surprise.

"She's pregnant?" Talon asked, eyes wide with shock. Scourgeclaw twitched his tail in amusement.

"Yes, she is, she is starting to show a little now." Scourgeclaw purred quietly. Talon shook his head slowly trying to get over the shock, before purring softly, his eyes glittering.

"I'll have to tell my mother about this she'll be thrilled." he meowed happily. Scourgeclaw once again was calmly watching Talon, a thought that had been plaguing his mind since the dark tabby had appeared into the forest.

"Talon, Mossflower told me and Fireheart, that your father was a former leader of ThunderClan, did you have any siblings?" he asked curiously. Talon watched him a moment before answering.

"Well I don't actually remember much of my father since he died not long after I was born, " Talon meowed softly looking up at the stars, " But, my mother told me that my father said that I looked like his son he left behind in ThunderClan, Why do you want to know." Talon asked curiously, tilting his head to the side a little in curiosity. Scourgeclaw felt a chill go down his spine, after Talon made the earlier comment, but kept a emotionless face.

"Oh, no real reason, I was just curious." Scourgeclaw meowed hoping that Talon wouldn't push the matter. Talon gave a shrug.

"Well then if that's all I suppose I'll be on my way then." Talon meowed over his shoulder as he headed back toward the twolegplace. Scourgeclaw called out to him.

" Wait, how did you know we were here?" Scourgeclaw asked looking suspiciously at Talon. Talon looked over his shoulder and gave Scourgeclaw an amused look.

"I have my ways, Take care Scourgeclaw." Talon purred before racing away into the trees, disappearing into the night. Scourgeclaw sat staring at the spot where Talon had been standing for a few minutes longer, before turning and making his way back to the camp.

Fireheart gave himself a nice stretch, looking up at the sun that was beginning to rise in the distance. He looked over at his friend Graystripe, happy that they were finally warriors, but he also had a sense of dread knowing that he had to tell Bluestar about Tigerclaw. He glanced around camp seeing some of the warriors, emerging from their nest getting ready for early patrols. Fireheart purred as Scourgeclaw, walked by him heading for Bluestar's den. As he watched his brother, he briefly wondered why Scourgeclaw didn't want to tell Bluestar about what Ravenpaw had told them, but he brushed this thought aside as Whitestorm came padding up to the two of them.

"Good morning you two, I bet your both glad to see the sun." Fireheart and Graystripe both gave him a nod. Whitestorm blinked in amusement. " Your vigil is over, you can talk now."

"I thought the sun would never rise." Graystripe groaned. Whitestorm mrrowled with laughter. Fireheart, looked over his shoulder seeing Sandpaw and Dustpaw emerged from the apprentice den, giving the two newest warrior's resentful looks.

"How did that kittypet become a warrior before us?" hissed Dustpaw to Sandpaw who leaned over to him.

"I say that he just got special treatment because he was Bluestar's apprentice, or maybe she just didn't feel like training him anymore." Sandpaw sneered Fireheart felt the fur on his neck start to rise, but before he could retort, Whitestorm turned around to glare at them.

" That's enough you two go get ready for your training." he meowed sternly. Sandpaw and Dustpaw slunk away heading toward the camp entrance. Whitestorm looked back to ThunderClan's newest warriors.

" Go get some fresh-kill and have a rest." he meowed before heading off to train his apprentice.

" I hope they, have to chase blue squirrels all day." mutter Graystripe, Fireheart looked at him in confusion.

"But there aren't any blue squirrels Graystripe." he meowed.

"Exactly." Fireheart purred in amusement.

"But, they do have reason to be upset, they were training before us." meowed Fireheart.

"Yeah I suppose they would be sore about that." Graypaw meowed they head over to the fresh-kill pile and picked up the last two mice and a swallow. They took them over to the warrior's side of camp. Fireheart had just started to bite into his mouse when Scourgeclaw came padding out of Bluestar's den. The black warrior seemed pensive as he padded toward them.

"Good morning Scourgeclaw," Fireheart meowed as he reached the two. Scourgeclaw returned the greeting. Graystripe pushed the swallow over to Scourgeclaw.

"Are you hungry?" he asked between bites of is mouse. Scourgeclaw watched him a moment before settling down beside the flame warrior and plucking the feathers off of the swallow. Fireheart looked at him with a curious glance.

" So, what did Bluestar want to talk to you about?" asked Fireheart not bothering to hide the curiosity in his voice, Scourgeclaw swallowed a mouthful of the swallow, lick his lips slowly, before looking at his brother.

"You'll see soon enough, it isn't anything bad I assure you." he meowed before returning to his meal. This of course just made Fireheart more curious, but he pushed it aside to ask about another pressing matter.

"Is Bluestar alone?" asked Fireheart. Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"Tigerclaw, went in to speak with her after I left." Fireheart felt like a rock had settled into his stomach, he then remembered something.

" Why, didn't you tell Bluestar about Tigerclaw?" he asked suspiciously. Scourgeclaw sighed before swallowing the last piece of fresh-kill.

"Now isn't the time, besides you both have to be tired from your vigil, go rest" He said at last. Fireheart for the first time, felt the strain of the vigil. Graystripe gave long yawn. Scourgeclaw gave an amused look at him before turning his eyes back on Fireheart who was watching him unblinkingly.

"You will know soon enough , but now is the time for you to rest." he promised and without another word. Scourgeclaw padded toward the camp entrance, probably heading out on a patrol. Fireheart gave himself a stretch before nudging Graystripe toward the warriors den . They found some empty nest and crawled in to rest.

Scourgeclaw watched his brother and Graystripe pad into the warrior's den before making his way over to the nursery. He slid into the nursery slow and silent, he looked around spotting Mossflower, with Frostfur's kits, he meowed a greeting which Mossflower returned.

"Hey Scourgeclaw, what are you doing in the nursery?" she said in surprise.

"I saw Talon last night." he meowed lowly glancing at Brindleface who was still a sleep with her kits. Mossflower's eyes widened and shock. She climbed out of her nest and sat close to Scourgeclaw, keeping an eye on Frostfur's kits.

"What was he doing here?" she hissed under her breath.

"He was looking for you." she blinked slowly.

"Why, would he look for me?" she asked. Scourgeclaw looked at her in surprise.

"Because we were suppose to see Kana the day after we met the Clan cats. We just went to the forest." Mossflower sighed sadly.

"I forgot about that. She must have been worried." she mewled. Scourgeclaw placed his tail on Mossflower's shoulder.

"We all forgot, you shouldn't feel bad." Mossflower nodded slowly.

"I'm surprised that he came to ThunderClan territory." she meowed, then she looked suspiciously at Scourgeclaw. "He was in ThunderClan territory wasn't he?"

"I didn't go to the twolegplace if that is what you are implying." Scourgeclaw snorted.

"How did he know we were here?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure he wouldn't tell me." Scourgeclaw meowed. Watching a gray she-kit tackling a golden-brown tabby tom. Mossflower purred in amusement watching the kits wrestling with each other.

"What did Bluestar want with you this morning?" she asked curiously.

"You'll know soon enough.I have to go get ready for a patrol now," he meowed turning around padding out of the nursery.

It was close dusk when Scourgeclaw returned from his patrol. He ignored the fresh-kill pile all together and decided to enter the warrior's den. After slipping into the warrior's den he stared in surprise at his brother who was mewling rather loudly in his sleep. He padded over to the flame furred tom , placing his paw on Fireheart's shoulder shaking him lightly.

"Wake up Fireheart," he hissed lowly in his ear. Fireheart twitched his ear, almost as if he had heard Scourgeclaw, but made no move to get up. Scourgeclaw shook a bit harder.

"Fireheart, wake up" he growled. Fireheart opened his eyes blinking sleepily. He gave a wide yawn, before turning to his brother.

"Hi Scourgeclaw, " he meowed sleepily.

"Why were you yowling in your sleep?" Fireheart blinked in shock, sitting up slowly in his nest.

"I was yowling in my sleep?" Scourgeclaw snorted,

"I'm surprised half the Clan didn't come running thinking that we were being attacked." he growled. Fireheart flattened his ears in embarassment.

"I was having a dream."

"Obviously" Scourgeclaw sniffed .

"I think it was dream of WindClan." Fireheart saw a flicker of confusion cross over Scourgeclaw's face.

"Why would you dream of them?" Scourgeclaw asked , watching Fireheart closely with his ice cold eyes. Fireheart shrugged, just as Tigerclaw came shouldering his way into warrior's den. He narrowed his amber eye's on the two as padded up to them. He turned his gaze onto Fireheart.

"You and Graystripe will be on the evening patrol, wake him up and get a move on." he growled, Scourgeclaw stared unblinkingly at the dark tabby flexing his claws. Fireheart merely nodded before nudging Graystripe awake and padding out of the den. Tigerclaw briefly looked at Scourgeclaw before padding out of the den. Scourgeclaw watched him leave with an urge to sink his claws into the dark tabby warrior's back. As he began to curl up into his nest, he thought about what Talon had told him the other night. Once more a shiver passed through his body as he curled up to sleep.

Some days later found Fireheart and Graystripe sharing tounges in the camp clearing. It wasn't quite moonhigh yet, the two had just finished their meal. they had been sent out on endless patrols since they had become warrior's and it didn't seem like they would be getting a break anytime soon. Fireheart kept an eye on Bluestar's den while licking his paw's.

"Are you still looking for Bluestar?" asked Graystripe who looked up from grooming his flank.

"Yes, I still need to tell her about, Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw." he murmured. Graystripe blinked slowly.

"But, I thought we weren't going to tell anyone about Ravenpaw." Fireheart shook his head.

"I mean't we would tell Tigerclaw, Bluestar has a right to know." meowed Fireheart.

"Why, don't you believe Ravenpaw?"

"We only know Ravenpaw's side of the story, and even if he is right about Tigerclaw killing Redtail that means that Redtail killed Oakheart and Redtail was too honorable to do that." meowed Graystripe. Fireheart stopped licking his paws to look at Graystripe.

"But, it isn't Redtail who I'm accusing, it's Tigerclaw whose is the problem." meowed Fireheart.

"But, no other cats have a problem with Tigerclaw, Ravenpaw was the only one afraid of him." Graystripe meowed, not quite meeting his friends gaze. Fireheart stared at Graystripe with a bit of resentment.

"Are you implying that Ravenpaw, made up everything?" he asked

"No. I just think we should be a little more careful." Graystripe meowed still not meeting Fireheart's face. Fireheart sighed as he gave another glance around the camp. He knew that Graystripe wasn't the only one who believed him. Mossflower and Scourgeclaw did as well, he knew that Graystripe must feel uncomfortable making assumptions on their deputy based on Ravenpaw's assumptions.

"I won't drag you into this Graystripe." sighed Fireheart gently. Just then Fireheart, spied a glimpse of gray heading toward her den, Fireheart stood up and moved to speak with her but she was leaping up onto the Highrock calling the clan for a meeting. Fireheart almost hissed in frustration, flicking his tail back and forth agitatedly. Graystripe sat up excitedly.

"Oh we're having a naming ceremony. I know Longtail's been dropping hints that he's getting an apprentice." Graystripe meowed padding off to find a place to sit. Fireheart followed silently seething.

They saw a small black and white kit enter the clearing looking nervous. Fireheart glanced around spotting Scourgeclaw not to far off his coat was well groomed and he was sitting next to Mousefur watching the black and white kitten closely.

""By naming apprentices, we show that ThunderClan will survive and remain strong."Leader: " From this moment on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Swiftpaw." Bluestar meowed looking at the black and white kit. Bluestar glanced at Longtail who came padding up to his new apprentice."Longtail, you are now ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be a warrior who is fierce and loyal I hope you pass this on to Swiftpaw." Fireheart watched with resentment as Longtail murmured comforting words to the new apprentice, before touching noses with Swiftpaw. ' Just because he's a Clanborn kit.' he thought with a low growl.

"What's wrong? That'll be us soon." murmured Graystripe. Fireheart cheered up a little after that. He then watched in surprise as Bluestar had turned to another kit and was going through his ceremony. Fireheart hadn't even noticed the second kit. He was far more confident looking then Swiftpaw, but was a little smaller than Swiftpaw. He had cold ice blue eyes, that were attentive, his golden fur looked glossy causing the black stripe on his back to stand out more.

"From this day on , until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Falconpaw." looking at the young kit, but what surprised Fireheart the most was that Scourgeclaw had risen to his paws and was weaving his way through his Clanmates to reach the young apprentice. Bluestar looked warmly at Scourgeclaw as he approached before addressing him.

"Scourgeclaw,, you are now ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be a warrior who is swift and cunning I hope you pass this on to Falconpaw." Scourgeclaw silently regard his apprentice before leaning in to touch his nose. Fireheart blinked in surprise when he saw Falconpaw stretch a little to reach Scourgeclaw's nose. Scourgeclaw led the young apprentice to sit near where Longtail and Swiftpaw sat. Fireheart glanced over at Mossflower looked just as shocked as he was. Fireheart immediately headed toward his brother as the other Clan cats came over to congratulate the newest apprentices and mentors. Scourgeclaw looked almost amused as he saw his brother pad up to him with a look of shock and surprise on his face.

"When did Bluestar give you an apprentice?" Fireheart asked glancing at Falconpaw, who was being fussed over by Goldenflower.

"Just, now I thought you were watching." Scourgeclaw meowed in amusement. Fireheart narrowed his eyes at him.

"I think he means when did Bluestar tell you that you were going to be a mentor, and I'd like to know too." meowed Mossflower padding up slowly.

"I told you, that you would know soon enough." he meowed. Both Mossflower and Fireheart's eyes lit up in realization.

"So that's why Bluestar wanted to talk to you." Fireheart meowed softly. Scourgeclaw nodded.

"Well, then I guess we owe you a congratulations." meowed Mossflower touching her tail into his shoulder.

"Yes Scourgeclaw, congratulations." meowed Fireheart, touching his own nose to Scourgeclaw's nose. Graystripe padded up to the three happily congratulation Scourgeclaw. They all stiffened when they heard faint mewls about feeling sorry for Scourgeclaw's apprentice because he was a kittypet. "Ignore them Scourgeclaw, I know you'll make a good mentor." meowed Mossflower, Fireheart nodded in agreement.

"You taught me well, before Bluestar mentored me." meowed Fireheart meowed. Scourgeclaw merely nodded.

"Congratulations Scourgeclaw," meowed Mousefur as she approached , with Runningwind padding along beside her.

"You'll do fine," meowed Runningwind. Touching his tail to Scourgeclaw's shoulder, like Mossflower had done.

"I'll do my best, now if you don't mind I wish to have a word with my apprentice. They cats agreed. Mossflower headed back to the nursery, with Runningwind. Fireheart and Graystripe headed toward the warrior's den. Mousefur briefly touched her nose to his shoulder before padding off for an evening patrol. Scourgeclaw watched her leave before, turning to look at his new apprentice. He found Falconpaw, watching him with closely with calculating eyes. Scourgeclaw looked carefully into his eyes seeing that Falconpaw, looked more curious rather then hateful as Scourgeclaw had suspected him to be. 'Well, this could be the start of a very interesting relationship.' he thought with a twitch of his whiskers.

~That's all for this chapter. Falconpaw is Swiftpaw's brother, he and Scourgeclaw might make an interesting mentor and apprentice. Let me know what you think.


	14. Chapter 14

Okay my computer was broken and out of commission for a while and I had to get it fixed once more. So stories have been a while and I had to start from scratch with chapters .

Chapter 14

Scourgeclaw took a long look at Falconpaw, he padded up to his apprentice slowly fixing his cold blue eyes on Falconpaw who held his stare unwaveringly.

"We start at dawn, but I want you to be waiting outside the apprentice den before then, is that understood?" Scourgeclaw hissed lowly. Falconpaw nodded wordlessly, before making his way toward the apprentice den. Scourgeclaw watched him go before he turned and headed toward the warriors den, ignoring Longtail's boastings about getting a new apprentice, as he reached the entrance to the den. A few warriors congratulated him for his apprentice before he was allowed to curl into his nest. Fireheart followed him into the warriors den curling up into his own nest near Scourgeclaw's and Mousefur was curled into a nest right beside Scourgeclaw's own nest, Scourgeclaw watched her as she fell asleep, for a moment before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Scourgeclaw awoke stretching his long body out of his nest; he paused to watch his flame pelted brother sleeping peacefully. Let his gaze travel to the sleeping Mousefur letting his gaze linger a little. He wondered why the dusky brown she-cat was being so friendly and why she had chosen to sleep in the nest beside his own. He shook his head forcefully trying to rid himself of the confusion that plagued him briefly, then he quietly padded out of the warrior's den stepping into the cool early morning. The sky was still a little dark as he emerged from the den. He glanced around the camp and saw that Falconpaw sitting silently outside the apprentice den. He was proud to see that Falconpaw was waiting patiently for him. He noticed the pale white pelt of Whitestorm, guarding the camp entrance silently. He padded forward to greet his apprentice and as he approached Falconpaw slowly rose to his feet. He nodded his head in acknowledgement to his apprentice as he reached the golden brown tom.

"Are you hungry? If you are you should eat before we leave."Scourgeclaw asked the young tom quietly, glancing at the fresh-kill pile and seeing that there were still a few pieces of prey.

"No I'm not hungry" meowed Falconpaw softly. Scourgeclaw nodded before turning and leading his apprentice to the gorse tunnel.

Whitestorm blinked in surprise as he saw Scourgeclaw and Falconpaw approach, from his place guarding the camp entrance.

"What are the two of you doing up so early?" he meowed curiously, letting his gaze travel from Scourgeclaw to his apprentice. Scourgeclaw held the white warrior's gaze for a moment before answering him.

"We're just getting an early start. I wanted to show Falconpaw the territory and get a bit of training in." Scourgeclaw meowed smoothly. Whitestorm nodded in understanding before allowing the two to pass into the forest.

They began to steadily climb the steep slope, hopping from rock to rock until they reached the top of the ravine. Scourgeclaw then began to lead the way to the training hollow. Scourgeclaw could see his apprentice watching him from the corner of his eye; he noticed that the apprentice was very confident looking despite his small size. Scourgeclaw inwardly growled as he briefly thought of his kithood, he could only guess that Falconpaw's was similar to his own due to his small stature. 'I heard the way the Clan pitied him for receiving me as his mentor, they will envy him when I'm done with him.'

They soon reached the Sandy hollow, the sky was getting close to dawn as they padded onto the sandy ground. Scourgeclaw motioned with his tail for Falconpaw to sit in the center. Once Falconpaw had done so he began to circle him slowly. He watched Falconpaw pensively for a moment before speaking.

"I suppose you heard your clanmates talking about how unfortunate you are to have me as your mentor; do you know why Bluestar made you my apprentice?" Falconpaw tilted his head curiously at Scourgeclaw before he meowed a gentle 'no' in response "It is because she and the Clan think you are weak." Scourgeclaw paused briefly when he saw Falconpaw flinch when he mentioned weakness, but continued to circle golden-brown apprentice, before continuing.

"They think that I'll only be able to teach you enough for you to survive a fight, but I'll teach you to win it. They think that I'm just a soft kittypet who has been lucky to survive the previous battles, but what they don't realize is that I am far dangerous then they could ever imagine, and I could have ThunderClan quaking in their nests if I wanted. I can make you strong if you wish it." He paused stopping to stare his apprenticein the eye. He saw a flicker of unspoken desire and ambition in Falconpaw's eye.

"Do you wish to be strong?" he asked at last. Falconpaw lifted his chin keeping his gaze with Scourgeclaw steady as he growled out his reply.

"Yes, I want to be strong." Scourgeclaw nodded with pleased look on his face.

"I will not tolerate disobedience or weakness, you will not complain, I expect nothing but your absolute best is that understood?" he hissed lowly. Falconpaw nodded in response. "They will wish they never looked down on us, when I'm though with you." He purred darkly.

Mossflower awoke from her place in the nursery; she glanced around and saw Frostfur fussing over her kits, who were trying to play with Brindleface's sleeping kits. Mossflower felt sad for Brindleface, since she lost one of her kits not long after it was born. She watched Frostfur's kits whining loudly at her before she sent them out to play in front of the nursery. She purred drowsily in amusement before stretching out of her nest slowly. She could feel her kits in her belly as she stretched. She couldn't wait to have her own kits to look after. She padded out of the nursery into the soft sunlight. It was just after sunhigh, she couldn't figure out why she had slept for so long, but soon remembered that Scourgeclaw and Longtail had received apprentices the previous night. 'I wonder how long they've been training?' she thought briefly, as she made her way over to the fresh-kill pile. She pulled out a few mice and settled down in front of the nursery to eat them.

Mossflower licked her muzzle clean of any leftover traces of mouse, before stretching out in the warm sun. 'It's pretty nice today. I think I'll take a walk' She thought happily. She stood up and contently padded toward the entrance only to be stopped by a voice. She turned around to find Bluestar padding up toward her.

"Mossflower where are you going?" she meowed with a little concern. Mossflower gave her a puzzled stare before answering.

"I'm just going for a short walk." Mossflower could see a bit of anxiety in Bluestar's eyes after telling her where she was going.

"I don't think it's wise for you to go out, when we don't know where Brokenstar is." Bluestar meowed

"I'll be fine Bluestar, and I won't go far from camp." She meowed softly. Bluestar watched her a moment before, sighing softly.

"Very well, just promise me you won't go near Thunderpath." Mossflower looked confused for a moment and was going to ask her why, but couldn't when she saw the pained, haunted look in Bluestar's eyes.

"Okay, Bluestar I won't." Mossflower meowed softly. Bluestar's gaze softened , before giving Mossflower a brief nod and heading toward her den. Mossflower watched her go curiously, puzzled by Bluestar's sudden overprotectiveness. Mossflower padded toward the entrance once more pausing briefly to meow a greeting to Willowpelt was depositing her catch from her earlier hunt into the fresh-kill pile.

Mossflower pushed through the gorse tunnel, slowly climbing up into the ravine. She padded off into the direction of the sandy hollow. She calmly made her way through the undergrowth and past the trees enjoying the slightly warm weather.

As she approached the sandy hollow she could make out the fresh scent of cats. She breathed in the scents of the cats and immediately recognized Scourgeclaw's scent. She padded quickly over to the clearing and spotted the Scourgeclaw and Falconpaw circling each other.

She watched as Falconpaw leaped at Scourgeclaw, only to be sent tumbling into the sand. She watched the small apprentice stand up slowly coughing and sputtering up sand. Falconpaw shook out his pelt and once again began studying Scourgeclaw for a weakness. Mossflower was briefly reminded of watching Scourgeclaw train Fireheart back when he was still a kit. She watched them a bit longer before continuing through the forest toward the twolegplace.

When she reached the pine forest she caught the scent of an unfamiliar cat. She breathed in carefully to make sure that the scent wasn't a clan scent. She quickly realized that it wasn't a clan scent either and began to return back to camp to tell Bluestar what she had discovered, when a familiar voice called to her from above.

"Hello Mossflower it's been awhile."

Scourgeclaw padded through the undergrowth. He could see the bright white pelt of Frostfur and the golden pelt of Goldenclaw padding ahead of him toward Fourtrees. The full moon above made their pelts glow bright in the darkness. Further ahead was Bluestar with Tigerclaw and Whitestorm a few pawsteps behind her, a tail length behind them padded Yellowfang who was traveling beside Dappletail, keeping a watchful eye on the elder. A few pawsteps behind Scourgeclaw were Fireheart and Graystripe and beside Scourgeclaw padded Mousefur. Scourgeclaw glanced back at his brother and could tell that his brother seemed to be focused on something. He slowed his pace until it matched his brother's.

"Something on your mind?" he hissed into Fireheart's ear. Fireheart glanced at him before muttering back to him.

"I'm trying to approach Bluestar about, Tigerclaw but I haven't had much luck." He meowed softly. Scourgeclaw stared unblinkingly at Fireheart a moment before answering him back.

"Well you could tell her now, it isn't like she's doing anything, she can speak to you quickly before leading us down to the gathering." Scourgeclaw finished. Fireheart nodded and started to pick up his pace so he could catch up to Bluestar, when he felt Scourgeclaw's tail on his shoulder.

"Don't be surprised if she doesn't believe you, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try." Fireheart blinked in surprise and was going to ask what he meant by that statement, but Scourgeclaw raced off once more to keep pace with Mousefur. Fireheart noticed that Scourgeclaw seemed to be a lot friendlier to Mousefur and was spending more time with the dusky brown she-cat. He figured that his brother finally decided to warm up to his clanmates. Fireheart quickened his pace through the undergrowth, bounding past his Clanmates to make his way to his leader. He quickly closed the gap between him and Bluestar, keeping stride with her.

"Bluestar may I speak with you a moment?" he asked softly, giving a quick glance back at Tigerclaw hoping the dark tabby warrior, hadn't heard him. Bluestar watched him briefly before nodding and glancing back at Tigerclaw, giving the deputy a silent command to take the lead. Bluestar slowed her pace until all the cats had passed them before sitting silently on the ground. She regarded him with unblinking eyes.

"Well Fireheart you wanted to speak with me?" asked Bluestar. Fireheart nodded slowly. He had trying to figure out the best way to tell Bluestar, about Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw, he decided that the truth was the best place to start.

"Ravenpaw is alive and he lives with Barley now." meowed Fireheart causing Bluestar's tail to twitch in surprise. "He no longer felt comfortable living in ThunderClan." Bluestar blinked slowly.

"I am not surprised that Ravenpaw wished to leave, I am more surprised that he felt that he had to fake his death in order to do so" she meowed sadly.

"He had no choice he was being threatened." Fireheart replied. Bluestar looked at the ginger tabby in surprise.

"If he was threatened he would have been protected by the Clan"

"Not if the Clan was what he needed protection from." meowed Fireheart defensively. Bluestar's whiskers twitched in shock and she watched Fireheart with unblinking eyes.

"Why would he need protection from the clan?" Bluestar she meowed at last. Fireheart gave a deep breath before telling Bluestar everything that he knew and telling her his suspicions about Tigerclaw. During his explanation, Bluestar listened patiently and calmly. He began to feel hopeful as Bluestar seemed to show a bit of worry in her eyes. When he had finished he waited patiently for Bluestar to speak and tell him what she would do. Bluestar sighed sadly before answering.

"Scourgeclaw put you up to this didn't he?" she asked with a soft voice, but Fireheart could hear a slight cool tone in her voice that made him shiver and made his eyes widen in alarm. He looked at her with a lot of confusion before answering her.

"What do you mean? What does Scourgeclaw have to do with Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw?" Bluestar shook her head again.

"I'm glad to hear that Ravenpaw is in good health , but I won't stand for these accusations you've made about Tigerclaw, I'm surprised that you would think that he would lay a claw on a clanmate." She meowed tersely and I'm even more shocked that you would slander Redtail's good name." Fireheart opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced by a sharp flick of Bluestar's tail. "No I will hear no more of this, is that understood?" Fireheart looked ready to speak against Bluestar's wishes but sighed and nodded silently. Bluestar gave him a curt nod and with a flick of her tail she was gone. Fireheart stood to follow her, wondering to himself what could have gone wrong. He decided to speak to Scourgeclaw as soon as he could.

Scourgeclaw sat patiently waiting for Bluestar to return from speaking with Fireheart. He was having a quiet conversation with Goldenclaw over the best places he could take Falconpaw to teach him to hunt. He saw Bluestar padding toward the front of the group. She slowed her quick pace down as she passed Scourgeclaw to give him a warning look. Scourgeclaw inwardly sighed knowing full well that Fireheart had failed in convincing Bluestar of Tigerclaw's treachery. He noticed Fireheart's flame colored pelt out of his peripheral vision. He noticed his brother was giving worrying looks in both Bluestar's and his own direction. He inwardly sighed once more when he saw Fireheart give him a questioning look. He shrugged it off and gave him his own look telling Fireheart that they would discuss everything later.

He watched as Bluestar signaled the Clan to follow her down the slope to Fourtrees. Scourgeclaw charged down the slope with his Clanmates this time stepping carefully into the clearing and looking around. He immediately recognized cats from ShadowClan and was impressed to see them looking so well after having driven out Brokenstar a while ago. He glanced around the clearing once more before settling himself near the base of one of the four great oak trees that surrounded the clearing. He sat silently watching other cats greet each other and tell stories and give news. He was surprised to see a familiar looking ginger she-cat padding in his direction. He was even more surprised to see a pretty gray and white she-cat pad up with her.

"Greetings Amberpelt, how is your clan?" he meowed curtly glancing at the other unfamiliar she-cat.

"My clan is well, Nightpelt is our new leader. He has helped us get Shadowclan running as it should." She mewled softly. "I trust everything is well in ThunderClan, Scourgeclaw?" Scourgeclaw regarded her carefully for a moment before answering.

"Yes ThunderClan is well and so are the kits." He meowed noticing the other she looking a little confused at their conversation. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Icestream of Riverclan. It's nice to meet you Scourgeclaw." Scourgeclaw nodded, knowing full well that she had to be from RiverClan.

"I haven't really met any cats from RiverClan ,until now that is." Scourgeclaw explained truthfully. Icestream and Amberpelt shared an expression of surprise.

"Really? I wouldn't mind showing you some of our warriors here." meowed Icestream. Scourgeclaw nodded and meowing an agreement before following the she-cat over to a group of warriors. He quickly recognized the silver-gray pelt of Flintfang and the black and white pelt of Brightflower. He also recognized a brown and white she-cat who he remembered from the time they drove out Brokenstar, but couldn't recall her name. The three ShadowClan warriors were speaking with Whitestorm and Goldenclaw, as well as a few RiverClan cats. Scourgeclaw quickly observed the Riverclan warriors individually. The first was a tom with dark gray mottled fur, who was watching the other warriors as they spoke. The next cat was a light brown she-cat with soft green eyes and a gentle voice to match. Right beside the she-cat was a cat that Scourgeclaw had seen at the other gathering, the gray tom with battle-scarred ears, Mossflower had spoken to this tom, and finally the last cat, was a large dark black tom with blue-gray eyes. The last two toms were speaking quietly to each other. Icestream began to point out each warrior.

"The dark mottled gray tom is Pebblestorm, and the light brown she-cat is Honeystream." She meowed "The cat beside her is Stonefur, he was our previous deputy's son." She meowed softly. Scourgeclaw was surprised by this statement, but kept it hidden by giving her a curt nod. "And the black tom is Darkstorm, his mate is Stonefur's sister." Scourgeclaw nodded carefully taking in the information that was being given to him. He then remembered something that Icestorm had said that made him curious.

"Who is the RiverClan deputy now?" he asked quietly. Icestorm looked at him a moment before letting her eyes scan the various cats that were in the clearing. Her eyes landed on a golden she-cat with unusual spots in her coat. She pointed her tail at the spotted she-cat.

"That's Leopardfur, she's Riverclan's new deputy." Scourgeclaw observed the she-cat a moment. 'She seems like she would be a decent deputy, I suppose time will tell.'

A loud yowl rang from the top of the Great Rock signaling the start of the gathering. Scourgeclaw located where Fireheart was seated and went over to join him. Fireheart gave his brother a questioning look as Scourgeclaw sat down beside him.

"I'll tell you when we're alone just not now." He meowed quietly. Fireheart seemed to except this and turned his attention back to the leader's. Fireheart was surprised to see Nightpelt standing on the Great Rock with the other leaders and realized that ShadowClan must have chosen him to be their new leader. Bluestar stepped forward to address the cats below.

"ThunderClan has welcomed Yellowfang as our new medicine cat." She meowed giving a pause while the other cats turned to look at Yellowfang. Fireheart saw that Yellowfang looked a little uncomfortable under the gaze of the other cats, but she kept her head up and met the gaze of every cat that looked at her directly. We also have two new warriors in our ranks, Fireheart and Graystripe." The cats all turned to see the two warriors. Fireheart kept his head high, and met every cats gaze even as he felt the fur along his spine tingle uneasiness. Once they had turned back to Bluestar, she quickly told the cats about ThunderClan's two newest apprentices and how well ThunderClan was fairing, and then backed up so that Nightpelt could take her place. Nightpelt told the Clans about ShadowClan driving out Brokenstar and that he had not yet been given his nine lives but was to travel in the morning to highstones, before he let Crookedstar take his place.

"We are all pleased to hear that Brokenstar is no longer a threat to the forest and RiverClan no longer have to share our prey with ShadowClan." Crookedstar meowed, RiverClan cats responded with loud cheers and happiness, but the ShadowClan cats including Nightpelt all looked very displeased.

"ShadowClan still has a lot of mouths to feed" meowed Nightpelt turning to look at Crookedstar ,who was beginning to look frustrated, to speak directly to him. "The deal that was made was for all of ShadowClan, not just Brokenstar" meowed Nightpelt. Crookedstar's growl could barely be heard above the murmurs from the cats below. Fireheart glanced around and saw that the ShadowClan cats were beginning to flex their claws and glare at RiverClan whose fur was beginning to rise along their spines. Crookedstar growled lowly and Nightpelt began to flex his claws. Fireheart watched in surprise as Bluestar stepped between the two leaders. She reminded them both that ShadowClan had less mouthes to feed and that Nightpelt had yet to receive his nine lives and asked the ShadowClan leader if he really wanted to make these claims on RiverClan's land when he didn't have nine lives to back him. Both leader begrudgingly backed down afterward.

"We don't need RiverClan's fish we have the uplands to hunt in now that WindClan is gone." Crookedstar nodded in agreement. Bluestar shook her head and proclaimed so all cats could hear

"WindClan must return for the good of all Clans." meowed Bluestar, as she looked at both Clan leaders.

"Why must they return that couldn't defend their own territory."hissed a voice from the crowd. Tigerclaw stood and faced every cat giving them a hard stare.

"Bluestar, is right WindClan must return." He meowed loudly. Fireheart saw Scourgeclaw roll his eyes. He looked curiously at Bluestar and wondered what she would do to convince the other leaders that WindClan has to return. He watched in bated breath as both leaders seemed to have turned their hostility at Bluestar and was greatly surprised that Bluestar paid no heed to their anger. She turned to address Nightpelt

"Nightpelt, Brokenstar drove out WindClan and ThunderClan had to assist you in driving him out we know you and your clan has suffered an that is why we have left you in peace." She turned to face Crookedstar.

"Your Clan has always been well off with the fish in the river, why do you need the uplands?" she asked calmly. Crookedstar wouldn't face her. Nightpelt stared at her for a long time before sighing and agree with Bluestar.

"Very well then WindClan will be found." Bluestar meowed before ending the meeting.

Scourgeclaw looked up toward the Great Rock where the leaders were still standing. He noticed the looks that Nightpelt and Crookedstar seemed to share. 'That's interesting Nightpelt doesn't appear to agree with Bluestar after all.' He thought to himself before glancing over at Fireheart and saw that his brother had noticed the exchange as well. He padded alongside Fireheart as they approached the rest of the Clan getting ready to leave. He turned his head to murmur quietly in Fireheart's ear.

"You have questions for me I know, but as of right now I can't give you the answers. You'll just have to trust me for now, can you do that?" He meowed looking at his brother's eyes. Fireheart stared back and for a heartbeat Scourgeclaw thought that Fireheart was going to tell him that he won't trust him, but Fireheart simply nodded and glanced at Tigerclaw, who was speaking to Bluestar, and then looked back at Scourgeclaw.

"I understand, but you will tell me soon won't you?" asked Fireheart. Scourgeclaw gave his brother a nod, touching his tail to his shoulder, before following the rest of the Clan back to camp.

'I'm sure Mossflower will find this interesting'

Okay that's it for this chapter. Again sorry I haven't been updating a lot has happened (besides the computer) that has prevented me from making chapters.

And I've been lazy, but I also wanted to get my story straight in my head before I put down another chapter, I've recently come to terms with the fact that I can do anything I want in this story even change canon pairings so I had to decide if I wanted to change what I was going to do in this story or keep it

I changed it you may be surprised

Also I haven't forgotten about **Firepaw of SkyClan **it's just at the time I had a lot of Ideas on this story that I wanted to put down and I put** FoS** on the back burner so I will try to get more things up soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

They followed the rest of the Clan back to the camp. As they came through the gorse tunnel and padded into the clearing, they found some of the other cats emerging from their dens to see what had happen. Mossflower emerged out of the nursery and came to sit in between Runningwind and Scourgeclaw, with Fireheart sitting on Scourgeclaw's other side and Graystripe sitting beside him. They watched Bluestar leap to the top of the high rock to address the clan.

"ShadowClan was present at the gathering, and they have a new leader, Nightpelt." She began to speak. One-eye looked up sharply and gave her a questioning look.

"You mean he hasn't been accepted by StarClan?" One-eye asked curiously. Bluestar looked over at her for a moment, before she continued to speak.

"No, he's going to receive his nine lives from StarClan tomorrow night." She replied. This caused some cats to murmur amongst each other. Scourgeclaw could hear One-eye mutter something about leaders shouldn't address the Clan's without being accepted by StarClan. "I have told the other Clans that WindClan must be returned to their territory." Scourgeclaw was confused by why Bluestar would put all her effort into finding cats that couldn't defend their own territory. He had thought that some of the cats had been right about why WindClan shouldn't be found, but he supposed that since those same cats had a been unable to drive the tyrant out of their own territory and had been too cowardly to fight the cat in the first place, he figured WindClan deserved some respect for fighting for their territory and not simply handing it over to Brokenstar. He glanced around noticing that other cats seemed to agree that the WindClan warriors deserved to return to their territory, much to Scourgeclaw's surprise. Bluestar waited for silence before speaking once more.

"I have been told of a possible alliance between RiverClan and ShadowClan, They weren't too happy about me wanting WindClan to return." She meowed solemnly. The Clan was surprised by this information. Willowpelt asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"But what would RiverClan want with the uplands? They get fat off the fish in the river." She meowed above the voices of her Clan mates. Dappletail raised her voice above the chatter.

"I heard from a group of RiverClan elders that prey has become hard to find since, twolegs have settled by the river and catch fish and the twoleg kits swim and disrupt the fish." Dappletail rasped with a few other cats agreeing with her. Bluestar seemed to except this answer.

"Yes that would explain why Crookedstar seemed to be so defensive." She meowed softly, looking among her cats. "But, this doesn't change the facts that WindClan must return, the forest will not be balanced if they do not return." Others murmured their agreement. Bluestar then let the cats continue to talk amongst themselves, as she jumped down from the highrock and padded into her den with Tigerclaw following closely behind her. Scourgeclaw felt a pelt brush against his flank. He turned to see that it was Mousefur, who had brushed against him.

"Something wrong?" she asked quietly, Scourgeclaw glanced at her a moment before slowly shaking his head and giving a small yawn.

"No, I'm just tired I'm going to retire." He meowed back. Mousefur nodded and followed him into the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw felt her brush against his fur before falling asleep.

Scourgeclaw awoke and stretched out of his nest and looked around. He quickly noticed that Fireheart and Graystripe weren't in their nests, he also noticed that Mousefur wasn't in her nest either, he figured that they all probably went hunting, he gave himself one more stretch then padded out of the warrior's den. He let the sun warm his black pelt as he sat close to the entrance to the warriors den and began to wash himself, he gave a nod to Goldenclaw, as he passed him, heading into the den. As he finished he noticed Mousefur padding toward him with a squirrel in her jaws, which she placed at his paws.

"Good morning, Scourgeclaw"

"Good morning Mousefur." She nudged the squirrel with her paw.

"Do you want to share this squirrel with me? I was going to share with Runningwind, but he had to go on dawn patrol." Scourgeclaw nodded in agreement and the two lied down beside each other, taking bites from the squirrel. They ate peacefully for a while as other cats got ready for the day. He looked up from the squirrel as he noticed Fireheart and Graystripe coming out of Bluestar's den and heading for Yellowfang's clearing. He licked his lips clean of fresh-kill and excused himself from Mousefur, before padding toward the clearing to greet his brother. As he approached he noticed his brother gulping down, traveling herbs. He blinked slowly in confusion, picking up his pace to reach Fireheart just as he swallowed the last of the herbs.

"Fireheart, Graystripe, Yellowfang." He greeted each with a nod. Fireheart glanced at him with a look of excitement.

"Scourgeclaw, Bluestar is sending, Graystripe and I on a mission to find WindClan." Scourgeclaw blinked at him slowly in shock.

"She's only sending the two of you? She isn't sending anyone else?" He asked quietly. Fireheart shook his head.

"No, she and Tigerclaw agreed that ThunderClan couldn't afford to send the two of us. With the possibility of an alliance between ShadowClan and RiverClan, not to mention it's going to start getting close to leaf-bare." Scourgeclaw hissed under his breath. "I think she would have chosen you to go if you didn't have Falconpaw to train." Fireheart added quickly. 'Mouse-dung I did forget that I'm a mentor now.' He inwardly hissed at himself. He became so distracted by his inner thoughts that he hadn't noticed Mossflower coming to sit beside him. He listened as Fireheart told Mossflower about his and Graystripe's mission. He heard her congratulate him and Graystripe on their first mission and told them to get going with a gentle nudge to their flanks. They finished their goodbyes, before they took off for the gorse tunnel. Mossflower nudged Scourgeclaw to get his attention.

"They'll be fine, you know this as well as I do." She murmured softly. Scourgeclaw nodded and gave a long sigh. 'I suppose I should see this as a test to see how much of a warrior he's become.' He thought to himself. He glanced at Mossflower and noticed right away that she seemed very upset and distracted by something.

"Is there something bothering you?" he asked softly. She sighed before glancing around. The clearing was full of warriors returning from patrol, leaving for patrol and taking out apprentices.

"Let's find a quiet place to talk." She meowed just as softly. He nodded and began to head toward the camp entrance. The apprentice den caught his eye and in the entrance he could see Falconpaw watching him closely. He halted and turned around to face Mossflower.

"Let me speak with Falconpaw for a moment." He meowed. She nodded in understanding, and padded forward to greet Runningwind, who had just returned from his patrol with Whitestorm and Sandpaw. Scourgeclaw padded over to the apprentice den. Falconpaw stood up and padded forward to greet him.

"Morning Scourgeclaw," Falconpaw meowed lowly holding his mentor's cold gaze.

"Morning, Falconpaw," Scourgeclaw meowed, his voice was equally as low, "I want you to assist the elders for now, I'll take you hunting later." Falconpaw nodded and bounded off to the elders den to check on the elders.

He glanced back at Mossflower and saw her greet Runningwind affectionately, and murmur something quietly to the swift tabby before continuing to follow Scourgeclaw through the gorse tunnel. They climbed up to the ravine and began to pad alongside each other. They had put a bit of distance between themselves and the camp, heading toward the owl tree.

Once they had reached the owl tree they settled down underneath it, into the shade. Mossflower sighed once more. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes before speaking up.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about?" he asked quietly. He wasn't certain where the patrols had been sent for the day so he felt it would be better to keep his voice down in case anyone overheard them.

"I saw Kana, yesterday." Mossflower mewled softly. Scourgeclaw blinked in surprise, but gave her a nod to continue. "I asked her about my littermates and what she told me…" she trailed off. Scourgeclaw gave her a questioning look.

"What about your littermates?" he asked. "What did she say to you?" Mossflower glanced at him for a moment, and then she sighed softly.

"A while ago I heard the elders talking about my father, this ThunderClan warrior named Thrushpelt, they talked about him being a great warrior who was fiercely loyal to Bluestar, and ThunderClan." Mossflower spoke quietly.

"Okay, what about him?" Scourgeclaw asked with a hint of confusion. Mossflower rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't finished you know I was getting to that." Scourgeclaw touched her shoulder with his tail gently to placate her, knowing she could become agitated very quickly.

"Fine, I'm listening. I'm not going to interrupt you until you finish talking." He meowed. Mossflower gave him a nod of understanding before continuing,

"When I spoke to Kana we both talked about how proud she was of us for joining the Clans and how happy she was that I was going to have kits soon." She purred softly at the memory. "I then asked her about my littermates, and whether or not she knew about my littermates and if she knew what happened to them… She told me that Bluestar planned to give them to our father." She finished looking at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw blinked slowly in confusion

"What do you mean? If he's a part of ThunderClan, why would she need to give your littermates to him?" he asked

"That's just it, I don't understand it either. It almost sounds as though…" she trailed off. Scourgeclaw looked curiously at her.

"Sounds as though what?"

"It sounds like she gave them up to be killed." She finished with a soft mewl of distress.

"That doesn't make any sense though, why save you and not them?" he questioned.

"I don't know but it's the only thing that makes the most sense." Mossflower mewled. Scourgeclaw shook his head slowly.

"You should talk to Bluestar, she'll probably tell you." he meowed. This time it was Mossflower's turn to shake her head.

"But what if it's true? What if their death was covered up by the fox story?" she hissed quietly.

"Listen to what you're saying. You're alive and your disappearance was covered up by the fox story. How do we know that your littermates aren't alive?"

"We don't, but I still don't want to ask Bluestar just yet about them."Scourgeclaw sighed and stood up to head back to camp.

"Fine, I suppose you don't have to ask her right away." He meowed softly. "But keep this in mind, the elders said that they never found the kits bodies." Mossflower seemed to be considering what he had said as he started to pad back to camp, but Mossflower's brisk mew stopped him.

"Scourgeclaw, wait there is one more thing that I need to tell you." she mewled as she reached Scourgeclaw's side.

"What is it?"

"Well before I ran into Kana, I was following this unfamiliar cat's scent." Scourgeclaw looked at her in surprise.

"Was it a Clan scent?" she shook her head.

"No it wasn't and I don't think that it was a kittypet either, it carried a faint scent of crowfood."

"Did you tell Bluestar? Or anyone else?" she shook her head.

"No, I didn't want to risk any of them catching Kana, and as you can imagine I wasn't too keen on speaking to Bluestar after our conversation." Scourgeclaw sighed again

"I understand, but where did you catch a whiff of the scent?" he asked curious to find just how far from camp she had traveled to find the scent."

"I was in the pine forest, Kana had climbed up an oak tree near where I caught the scent." She meowed.

"How far into it did you travel?" Mossflower seemed to think a moment.

"Not very far I had crossed the twoleg path and traveled a few foxlength's in when I caught the scent."

"Well it doesn't surprise me that no one's found anything yet, how fresh was this scent?" he asked

"Pretty fresh, however it wasn't strong enough for me to be too concerned about it." Scourgeclaw consider this before responding.

"I'll go check it and see if the cat is still there okay?" she nodded

"Fine, just be careful okay?" scourgeclaw twitched his tail in acknowledgement before changing direction and heading for pine forest.

It was getting close to sunhigh as Scourgeclaw reached the pine forest, and he began to pad through the forest, taking a moment to briefly wonder why it was called the pine forest when there where other kinds of trees besides pine in it, when he caught the scent of a very familiar cat. He growled low in his throat and became a little agitated. 'What is she doing here?' he hissed in his head. Growling softly, he followed the she-cat's scent as it led him in the direction of his camp. He could see the thorny tunnel, which had an oak tree on each side of it, as he approached and with another growl he charged into the tunnel. As he emerged from the other side, he found that the scent had grown stronger and he could smell a hint of fear mixed in the scent. He stopped and listened closely padding quietly into the clearing and looking around. He turned and headed toward the log that kept his dog teeth. He stuck his white paw inside and slipped the teeth onto his claws. Suddenly he saw a flash of ginger disappear under the bush that was surrounded by brambles. He hissed under his breath before padding directly for the bush, when he was a tail-length from the entrance, the cat sprung at him with claws unsheathed he quickly dodged the assault and tripped the cat with his hind leg leaping and pinning the cat with his white paw.

"I'm only going to ask you once, what are you doing here Brick?" he growled quietly.

(I should just leave it here but I won't)

The ginger she cat looked up in both fear and shock.

"Scourge, you're alive? It's really you?" she asked softly, Scourgeclaw sighed in exasperation.

"You didn't answer my question Brick."

"I'm sorry it's just… well I've been looking for you for a while now, it's just a shock to see you now." Scourgeclaw looked at her curiously, taking his paw off her throat.

"Why aren't you with my cats? What has happened?" Brick sighed sadly as she was let up of the ground.

"It's not good Scourge, Dagger has taken over." Scourgeclaw growled in anger scraping his white paw along the ground, causing Brick to flinch.

"How did this happen? And what about Bone?" he growled

"Dagger had some followers of his own and they each got some support from your regulars so they quickly got the advantage over your guard." Brick began softly. Scourgeclaw twitched his tail in agitation. "Things have been rough for your guards since you've gone and we've all split up to search for you." Scourgeclaw snorted

"Why bother the cats have Dagger for a leader now they don't need me, why would they want me back?" Brick shook her head frantically.

"No they do need you, Dagger isn't what they expected." She meowed softly.

"And why is that?" Brick looked down at her paws

"The cats thought that he would be…" she trailed of and didn't meet his gaze. Scourgeclaw looked questioningly at her, while his tail twitched in agitation. He sighed suddenly as he realized why she fell silent.

"You may speak freely Brick, I won't hurt you." he meowed Brick lifted her head to look at his ice blue eyes. When she saw that he was serious she began to speak once more.

"You see during the overthrow, a lot of cats said that you were unfair with the way you ran the group." Scourgeclaw hissed

"Oh and why is that?" Brick twitched with a look of unease on her face. He quickly noticed that she was shivering and fluffing out her coat. He too was felling the cool air and figured it would be better to find someplace warmer to talk. He glanced behind him, his eyes resting on the old stump.

"Come on we'll talk in there," he meowed pointing with his tail toward the opening in the stump. Brick nodded and followed Scourgeclaw to the tree stump with an opening. Once they were inside the tree stump they sat on the sandy ground.

"What did my cats think of me Brick?" he asked again staring intently into her eyes.

"They felt that it was unfair that you didn't let families stay together, they also thought your punishments were harsh and they didn't think that you had done enough to help them get food, but I bet now plenty of cats know that wasn't true." Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes.

"Now, what has Dagger been doing?" Scourge growled lowly.

"Once Dagger took control, he changed a lot of the rules with the cats." Brick started slowly. Scourgeclaw nodded, letting her know she could continue. "He's forced kits to leave their mothers and fend for themselves at three moons of age. He also makes every cat hunt for him, he doesn't lift a paw." Scourgeclaw blinked slowly, and took in the information that was being told to him. "If you thought that there was barely enough to eat for every cat, there is nothing now. Dagger keeps it all for himself and the rest of us grow hungrier every day, the only cats that are taken care of are his own personal guards. He even punishes kits if they don't bring him any prey, he's horrible and any cat that breathes your name is punished it's worse than it was when that dog was guarding our best food spot." Brick finished shiver with a hunted look in her eye.

"You say my guards are all looking for me? Including Bone?"

"Well Bone, Ice and Snake stayed behind to try and get on Dagger's good side, to hopefully try and make things better and to prepare for your return." Brick meowed gently. "If you do decide to return." Brick watched Scourgeclaw staring curiously at him for a long time. Scourgeclaw watched her before speaking up.

"What do you want Brick? Is there something else on your mind?" Brick blinked slowly and breathed in softly before responding,

"What happened Scourge? Why did you leave us?"

"It wasn't by choice if that's what you think." Brick looked at Scourgeclaw with confusion,

"What do you mean?" Scourgeclaw then began to explain to her all that had occurred the several moons he had been away; from his capture, to joining ThunderClan, to meeting Boulder all the way to finding her in his camp.

"I have another question Scourge, I mean Scourgeclaw, why didn't you come back once you were free of the house?"

"I was curious about these Clan cats and their way of life, I wanted to know more about how they ran things." Brick nodded in understanding.

"So what will you do now?"

(Okay I will end it here, what do you think?

~For those who don't know Brick was one of Scourgeclaw's first followers and was his other right paw, basically she was on the same level as Bone in The Rise of Scourge.~)


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Scourgeclaw padded toward camp with a plump squirrel in his jaws. He thought briefly about his conversation with Brick. He had given her instructions and knew it wouldn't be long before he was ready to execute his plan. 'He'll be ready by that time and then he'll make his choice.' He thought briefly.

He was almost to the camp entrance when Goldenclaw came rushing out, almost barreling into him. He jumped back to keep himself from being toppled over by the large warrior, and glanced at him irritably. Goldenclaw glanced back mewled a quick apology, before taking off into the forest without an explanation. Scourgeclaw snorted softly rolling his eyes, then quickly padding through the gorse tunnel. His eyes quickly spotted Runningwind pacing restlessly outside of the nursery, his tail twitching nervously behind them. Dropping his squirrel into the fresh-kill pile he padded up to the swift tabby warrior.

"What's going on? Why are you so fidgety?" meowed Scourgeclaw curiously, he had never seen the tom so nervous. Runningwind looked at him worriedly.

"We can't find Yellowfang." He meowed softly. Scourgeclaw gave him an even more confused look.

"Is one of the queens or one of the kits sick?" Runningwind shook his head.

"No its Mossflower," he meowed softly. "She's in labor."

Mossflower hissed lowly under her breath as she felt another pain in her abdomen. She could almost imagine the little lives inside her trying to push their way out of her. She felt the pain again and hissed once more. Frostfur licked her head gently in support, telling her she was doing fine. She felt a stick being pushed against her muzzle. She looked up to see Bluestar gently prodding her with the stick, Mossflower quickly understood that it was for her to bite onto to help with the pain. She quickly latched onto the stick with her teeth biting it hard whenever the sharp pain racked her body. She could only hope that Yellowfang came soon, to help her through the ordeal, though she felt more at ease with Bluestar and Frostfur beside her. She hissed again with another pain and felt the cool tongue of Bluestar gently lick her head. Suddenly a familiar ragged pelt of gray fur entered her vision. She would have sighed with relief just then if another pain hadn't racked her body. She felt Yellowfang gently touch her abdomen with her paws, gently prodding her, causing Mossflower to hiss a little in discomfort glaring fiercely at Yellowfang.

"Can't you be a little gentler?" she growled. Yellewfang rolled her eyes.

"Honestly you queens act as though you can't deal with a little pain." She scoffed. Mossflower almost retorted that Yellowfang wouldn't have to go through this kind of pain, but instead settled for biting onto the stick once more.

"Okay now I want you push when you feel the pain." rasped Yellowfang gently pressing her paws onto Mossflowers abdomen again. Mossflower pushed through the pain, biting fiercely onto the stick, as Frostfur and Bluestar meowed encouragingly. She breathed heavily in exhaustion from pushing out the first small bundle.

"It's a she-kit, she's completely healthy," rasped Yellowfang softly. Mossflower purred softly. 'My little she-kit.' She thought briefly before another pain racked her body. "You're not done yet you have another one that needs to come out." Yellowfang meowed after passing the tiny kit to Frostfur. Mossflower feeling her seconded wind, pushed against the pain to deposit another slightly, bigger bundle at Yellowfang's paws. Mossflower sighed and panted a little softly.

"This one's a tom, and he's just as healthy as the first." Yellowfang announced. Mossflower felt a deep purr leave her chest. 'My strong little tom'. She looked up to see Bluestar looking at her with pride, she felt warm and happy. She felt Yellowfang and Frostfur place her precious kits next to her; she looked down to get a better look at the kits. The she-kit she saw looked just like her with the exception that instead of gray patches, she had brown tabby patches, but the tom was the one that surprised her most, he had blue-gray fur that covered his body everywhere, with the exception of his chest which was light gray and his paws which were a darker gray. 'He looks just like Bluestar' she thought glancing up to look at Bluestar, who seemed to share her thoughts. She felt a warm tongue brush against her ear softly and saw a familiar tabby pelt come into her line a vision.

"Their beautiful," Runningwind purred softly. She purred back moving her tail a little to give Runningwind a better view of their kits. She watched him gently lick the two squirming kits that were currently suckling their mother's milk. "What shall we name them?" Mossflower looked at her kits and began to think of names. Almost immediately the name for the tom came to her, but she couldn't think of a name for the she-kit.

"Her fur is as soft as a bird's feathers," Runningwind purred gently. "I think we should call her Birdkit." Mossflower purred and looked down at the little she-kit.

"Yes it's perfect, she'll be Birdkit."She purred happily turning her deep blue gaze to the blue-gray tom beside his sister. "I think the tom's name should be Bluekit." She looked at Bluestar as she spoke, who stared back at her in surprise. 'Yes it's the only name that fits him.' Runningwind nodded his head in agreement.

"Bluekit, it is then," he meowed warmly looking fondly at the tom. Bluestar stepped forward looking warmly at the two kits and then Mossflower.

"Have you chosen their names?" Mossflower and Runningwind nodded.

"Yes Birdkit and Bluekit." Bluestar purred softly.

"Those are fine names for such beautiful kits." Bluestar meowed softly, sitting in front of Mossflower, with her tail tucked around her paws. "I, Bluestar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these two kits, and to welcome their new arrival into ThunderClan. They are strong, and will someday become fine warriors, of this Clan. I hereby name this she-kit, Birdkit" Bluestar mewled softly touching her tail to Birdkit's skull. "And I hereby name this tom Bluekit" also gently touching Bluekit's head. "May StarClan light their paths for many seasons to come." Bluestar mewled, she then rose slowly to her paws and padded out of the nursery. Yellowfang stepped forward, giving Runningwind and Mossflower fierce looks.

"Mossflower, you need to rest, so no moving around, Runningwind make sure she doesn't exhaust herself. I'll bring you more borage later to keep your milk supply up." Yellowfang rasped softly. "And Runningwind make sure she isn't overwhelmed with visitors." Runningwind nodded in understanding as, Yellowfang padded toward the entrance to the nursery. Runningwind brushed his pelt against Mossflower, once more purring softly as he padded out of the nursery to stand guard at the entrance. Mossflower looked back down at her two kits with a fond expression on her face. She could hear the other queens congratulating her, but her focus was on the two precious bundles gently nursing against her belly. She purred contently and gave both kits a gentle lick on their heads.

"Well I certainly didn't expect to return from hunting and find two more kits in the nursery." A familiar voice mewled as she looked up. Scourgeclaw was examining the kits, he leaned in to get a good look at them gently taking in their scent.

"What have you named them?"

"The tom is Bluekit and the she-kit Birdkit." Scourgeclaw blinked slowly, his face not giving away the surprise that Mossflower knew he was probably feeling. Scourgeclaw leaned in close and meowed lowly so none of the other queens could hear him.

"Are you sure that is wise? It might be risky to name him that." Mossflower discreetly shook her head.

"No it isn't, everyone thinks he was named after his pelt, no one thinks I named him after her." She meowed calmly. Scourgeclaw sighed and turned to leave the nursery.

"Just be careful." Scourgeclaw meowed so softly that Mossflower felt she may have imagined, him saying it.

Scourgeclaw slithered out of the nursery congratulating Runningwind once more as he passed the swift looking tabby. He decided that he would find his apprentice and practice the young tom's hunting technique. As he headed for the apprentice den, he spotted Mousefur emerging from the camp entrance with a look of confusion on her face. She spotted him and head over to him.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly giving him a curious look.

"Mossflower had her kits." He replied softly. Mousefur's eyes widened a little before a look of happiness crossed her face.

"Runningwind must be so proud; I'll go congratulate him and Mossflower." She meowed quickly. She thanked Scourgeclaw quickly then dashed off to the nursery. Scourgeclaw watched her go then continued toward the apprentice den. Falconpaw had just left the elder's den and was grooming his fur in front of the apprentice den. He looked up from his wash as Scourgeclaw approached him.

"Come it's time to work on your hunting technique" Scourgeclaw meowed quietly to Falconpaw, who nodded and followed Scourgeclaw out of the gorse tunnel.

Scourgeclaw pounced onto an unsuspecting vole, quickly delivering a fierce bite into its neck then swiftly burying it into the ground. He sighed and looked up at the sky. It wasn't too early in the morning but it wasn't yet sunhigh. It was the third day since Graystripe and Fireheart had gone on their mission to find WindClan and he briefly wondered if he would ever see his brother again, then just as quickly dismissed the thought, knowing that his brother wasn't a weakling and would find his way back in one piece. 'I just need to be patient; he'll return soon I'm certain of it.' He decided to focus more on hunting. He looked around and spotted Falconpaw several tail-lengths away stalking a sparrow, he watched quietly urging his apprentice forward as Falconpaw got within pouncing range of the sparrow and a heartbeat later the sparrow was caught and hung limply from Falconpaw's jaws. Scourgeclaw gave the young tom a nod before motioning for him to bury the piece of prey to retrieve later. Falconpaw buried the bird and followed Scourgeclaw toward the Owl Tree.

Once the two had reached the Owl Tree they began to hunt once more, Scourgeclaw caught the scent of a mouse scurrying around a group of bushes. He stalked forward cautiously being mindful to pad gently forward. He was almost within reach of the juicy mouse, when suddenly a loud yowling broke out in the air startling the mouse into a hole. 'Mousedung' Scourgeclaw thought crossly, siting up from his hunting crouch and lashing his tail angrily. Scourgeclaw glanced over at Falconpaw who wore a startled look on his face before quickly changing it to a look of indifference. Scourgeclaw could still here the yowling and started to listen to where it was coming from.

"It sounds like it's coming from the gorge."Falconpaw meowed quickly. Scourgeclaw nodded his agreement and the two charged off toward the gorge to investigate.

When they had reached the gorge Scourgeclaw was surprised to see RiverClan fighting with some unfamiliar cats and to see a familiar ginger pelt fighting among them. 'Fireheart must have succeeded in finding WindClan' he thought briefly before racing forward to help his brother and Graystripe. Falconpaw raced forward with him, he kept a close eye on his apprentice as he leaped onto the back of a RiverClan warrior. Scourgeclaw sank his teeth into a dark mottle gray pelt and began scratching and clawing at the toms back. The RiverClan tom turned around trying to score Scourgeclaw's pelt with his claws. Scourgeclaw released his hold on the tom's back and slashed at the tom's face. The tom leaped back to avoid Scourgeclaw's claws. Scourgeclaw immediately recognized the tom as Pebblestorm, one of the RiverClan warriors he had seen at the gathering. He moved out of the way of Pebblestorm's next attack and scored Pebblestorm's pelt with his claws. A familiar battle cry sounded in the air. Scourgeclaw whipped around and saw Tigerclaw, Willowpelt, Whitestorm and Sandpaw charge toward the battle. Pebblestorm screeched loudly and whirled around leaped at Scourgeclaw pinning the dark warrior beneath him. Scourgeclaw wriggled like an adder slipping from the tom's grip with ease and delivering a blow to the side of Pebblestorm's head causing the tom to roll with the impact. Scourgeclaw quickly raked his claws on the tom's exposed belly. A second set of claws began to score the RiverClan tom's belly. Scourgeclaw looked up to see Falconpaw delivering the tom fierce blows as Pebblestorm screeched in pain wrenching away from the two and racing away from the battle. Scourgeclaw glanced into the battle and spotted a familiar spotted pelt. Scourgeclaw charged toward Leopardfur slashing into her shoulder with his claws, the RiverClan deputy whipped around to slash him with her claws, but Scourgeclaw leaped away and leaped forward again to score her pelt with his claws. Falconpaw slashed at her flank, leaping away when the RiverClan deputy attempted to deliver a blow the apprentice's head. Scourgeclaw seized her scruff in his jaws, trying to keep her still as Falconpaw leaped to rake his claws down her belly. Leopardfur tried to wriggle free from Scourgeclaw's grip and managed to kick Falconpaw away from her, she struggled to regain her footing so she could wrench free of Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw abruptly released Leopardfur and struck a blow to her head as Falconpaw leaped onto her back grabbing her scruff and raking his claws down her back. Leopardfur rolled onto her back trapping Falconpaw beneath her but leaving her belly exposed to Scourgeclaw's claws. Leopardfur rolled off of Falconpaw quickly getting onto her feet facing the two ThunderClan toms just as she was about to leap on them a loud wail of distress rose into the air. The three cats turned to face the gorge and spotted Graystripe reaching out over the edge to a RiverClan warrior who was dangling on the side of the cliff. Leopardfur raced toward the gorge to help, but a loud wail from Graystripe and the tom falling told Scourgeclaw she was too late. Scourgeclaw looked around and saw that every cat had stopped fighting. Leopardfur turned to face the other cats that were present. She looked directly at Tigerclaw as she spoke.

"This has gone beyond a border fight. We will be leaving but this will be settled at another time." She growled fiercely and signaled for her cats to follow her as she led them back toward the RiverClan camp. Scourgeclaw turned to see his brother looking at Sandpaw who was glancing down at the edge of the gorge in horror as if she just realized something. 'We just won, so why is everyone distressed?.' he thought in confusion. Tigerclaw glared heatedly at Fireheart as he approached him and the two WindClan warriors thanked ThunderClan once more before racing off to their Clan. Tigerclaw growled lowly at Fireheart. He growled for all the cats to follow him, and began to lead them back to ThunderClan territory. Scourgeclaw followed after the patrol with Falconpaw padding along beside him and Fireheart bringing up the rear with Graystripe dragging his paws beside him looking very distressed. 'Why is he so depressed? it wasn't one of our warriors that went over the edge.' Scourgeclaw thought briefly. He felt Falconpaw's gaze on him. 'He did well but he has a long way to go.'

"Well done for your first battle, but there is more we need to work on." Scourgeclaw meowed quietly to the light-brown tom. Falconpaw seemed to lift his head higher after hearing Scourgeclaw's praise. Once they had reached the ThunderClan border Tigerclaw stopped and turned around waiting for Fireheart and Graystripe to catch up to the patrol, once they had. Tigerclaw growled for them to stay with the group and then continued toward the camp picking up his pace.

Once they reached the camp, Their Clanmates rushed up to them asking if WindClan had been found, but kept their distance once they saw the serious looks on the faces of all the cats on the patrol. Tigerclaw growled for Fireheart and Graystripe to follow him into Bluestar's den. Scourgeclaw touched his tail to Fireheart's shoulder as his brother padded toward the leader's den. Scourgeclaw turned to Falconpaw who was sitting quietly next to him.

"Go gather the prey we caught earlier, then you can eat and rest." Scourgeclaw meowed softly. Falconpaw nodded and raced out of the gorse tunnel to the place they had left the prey. Scourgeclaw headed for the nursery. He figured that Fireheart and Graystripe would be in Blustar's den for a while and decided to visit Mossflower to tell her that Fireheart and Graystripe had safely returned and had succeeded in finding WindClan and bringing them home. He slipped silently into the nursery, he gave a nod to Brindleface who purred softly as he passed her.

"Scourgeclaw, what brings you to the nursery?" asked Mossflower gently as she licked the heads of her two kits. Scourgeclaw saw the two kits quietly nursing and squirming.

"Fireheart and Graystripe have returned." Scourgeclaw gently meowed. "They found WindClan and brought them home safely, however, apparently they decided to come back to camp with an WindClan escort through RiverClan territory, where the gorge is, and were attacked by a RiverClan patrol and during the fight a RiverClan warrior fell over the side of the gorge." Mossflower's eyes widened in shock, as she listened to Scourgeclaw explain what had occurred at the gorge.

"They're both alright, aren't they?" Mossflower asked softly; trying not to startle her kits that were now currently sleeping. Scourgeclaw nodded.

"Yes they are fine, I will see if FIreheart has left Bluestar's den so that I can bring him down to see you and the kits." Scourgeclaw meowed quietly, he turned and left the nursery pausing to slightly to watch Brindleface's three kits wrestling with each other. He watched as Ashkit pounced onto his smaller brother Smokekit, squealing in delight. Fernkit lay napping beside her mother. Scourgeclaw felt slight confusion and he waited to see if Ashkit would say something hurtful to Smokekit for being a small helpless kit, but to his confusion and surprise Ashkit didn't say anything to Smokekit only chased his brother around the their mother squealing in delight.

_~"We don't want to play with him; he's too weak to keep up." _

"_He doesn't play right. He's useless."_

"_No one will ever want you, and unwanted cats are drowned in the river."~_ Scourgeclaw hissed lowly in his breath and for a moment he thought he thought he could see his siblings taunting him.

"I'll show them just how 'weak' I am" he growled low enough to be unheard. He padded outside the nursery and looked around to see, Fireheart and Graystripe heading for the warrior's den. Graystripe still looked sullen, while Firepaw seemed both excited and worried.

"Fireheart come here." Scourgeclaw called out to his brother. He watched Fireheart quickly meow something to Graystripe, and then raced over to Scourgeclaw.

"Hi, Scourgeclaw it's good to see you, I meant to say something earlier, but I didn't think the time was appropriate." Fireheart meowed sadly with a glance back at Graystripe.

"Yes well, Mossflower wishes to see you. She has a bit of a surprise for you." Fireheart blinked slowly in confusion as he followed his brother into the nursery. He gave each queen a gentle greeting. When he reached Mossflower his jaw dropped in shock. His eyes softened as he took in the two sleeping bundles nuzzled into Mossflower's belly. He purred gentle glancing at Scourgeclaw who he noticed seemed to have a fond look in his eyes as he gazed at the kits. 'They're beautiful' Fireheart thought as he examined each kit. He noted that one looked very similar to Mossflower with the exception of brown patches and the other he saw looked very much like Bluestar.

"Their names are Birdkit and Bluekit." Mossflower purred softly as she watched Fireheart gazing gently at her kits. Fireheart stared at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Fireheart meowed softly. Mossflower nodded to the unspoken part of the question that she knew Fireheart wanted to ask. "They're beautiful Mossflower, congratulations." Fireheat purred.

"Thank you Fireheart and welcome back." She meowed softly. "Are you alright? Scourgeclaw told me about what happened at the gorge." Fireheart lowered his head and let his ears flatten against his skull.

"I suggested that we go that way but…"

"No, don't blame yourself for anything, that cat knew the risks as well as you." Scourgeclaw growled. "You aren't responsible for the actions of others." Fireheart blinked gratefully at his brother knowing that he was only trying to make him feel better. He sighed but remembered something that he wanted to tell them both.

"There's one more thing. Bluestar has decided to make Graystripe and I mentors." Mossflower looked at him in surprise.

"But none of the kits in the nursery are old enough yet to become apprentices."

"Frostfur says two of her kits are ready. I know how you feel about kits being trained early but I promise I won't push my apprentice too hard." Mossflower looked at him before nodding gently. She gave Scourgeclaw a look who nodded in understanding.

"When is the ceremony?" Mossflower asked softly.

"The ceremony is at moonhigh. It will give Graystripe and I some time to rest."Mossflower nodded looking pensive for a moment. Scourgeclaw rose to his paws and nudged Fireheart toward the entrance to the nursery.

"Come let's give Mossflower some peace and quiet, while her kits are still asleep." Scourgeclaw murmured leading Fireheart out of the nursery. Fireheart meowed a quick goodbye to Mossflower then quickly padded out of the nursery.

"From this moment on, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Cinderpaw." Bluestar meowed.

"Fireheart, you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to Cinderpaw, you have shown yourself to be a strong warrior and have been fortunate to have had more than one mentor. I'm sure you will pass on all you know to this apprentice." Fireheart nodded coming up to stand beside the little gray she-kit that was his new apprentice. Scourgeclaw stared expectantly at him glancing between him and Cinderpaw. Fireheart's eyes widen in realization and he quickly bent his head to touch noses with Cinderpaw who stretched out eagerly. They turned to watch Bluestar give her brother his warrior name.

"From this moment on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Brackenpaw, Graystripe you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to Brakenpaw, are fallen clanmate Lionheart was your mentor, may you pass his wisdom onto this apprentice." Graystripe quietly touched noses with Brackenpaw. Fireheart felt happiness for his friend. He was glad they were both mentors now and was eager to teach Cinderpaw all he knew. Cats began to come up and congratulate the pair on their new apprentice. Fireheart was so distracted he didn't notice the cold eyes staring at Cinderpaw, who was sitting excitedly beside him.

Yep that's right Mossflower's kits are here, I glad I have this chapter done. What do you think of the little kits?

Yes I know that Brindleface's third kit the solid gray tom didn't have a name but I decided to give him one.

Also I don't mean to make Scourgeclaw seem invincible in battle, I've been trying to make him seem like it's hard to land a blow on him. In the books that Scourge has been in the only time I ever hear of him being badly injured is the one scene mentioned in Rise of Scourge and Bluestar's Prophecy and the battle in the Darkest Hour. Even Tigerstar who was apparently the strongest warrior in the forest at the time wasn't able to injure him. So I've been trying show that in some way, though I do to let him get a few scratches here and there.

So that's all for this chapter let me know what you think of it.


	17. Chapter 17

Okay here's the new chapter. it was asked that i put in the allegiances back in for characters that have been forgotten during my lack of updating, i will try not to take so long to do the next chapter.

ALLEGIANCES

THUNDERCLAN

Leader: Bluestar- blue**-**gray she-cat, tinged with silver around the muzzle

Deputy: Tigerclaw-big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws

Medicine cat: Yellowfang- old dark gray she-cat with a broad flattened face

Warriors: Whitestorm - big white tom

Apprentice, Sandpaw

Darkstripe - sleek black and gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Dustpaw

Longtail- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes

Runningwind- swift light brown tabby tom

Willowpelt- very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Scourgeclaw- small black tom with one white paw, ice blue eyes

Apprentice, Falconpaw

*Goldenclaw*- golden brown tabby tom

Fireheart -handsome ginger tom

Apprentice, Cinderpaw

Graystripe - long-haired gray tom

Apprentice, Brackenpaw

Apprentices: Sandpaw- pale ginger she-cat

Dustpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Swiftpaw - black and white tom

*Falconpaw*- golden brown tom with black stripe down back ice blue eyes

Cinderpaw -dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Brackenpaw - golden-brown tabby tom

Queens: Frostfur- beautiful white coat and blue eyes

Brindleface **-** pretty tabby

Goldenflower - pale ginger coat

Speckletail - pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen

Mossflower - white she-cat with gray patches, bright blue eyes

Mousefur- small dusky brown she-cat

Elders: Halftail - big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear- gray tom with very small ears. The oldest cat in ThunderClan

Patchpelt- small black-and-white tom

One-eye- pale gray she-cat, The oldest she-cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail- once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat

SHADOWCLAN

Leader: Nightstar - black tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Flintfang - silver gray tom

Medicine cat: Runningnose- small gray and white tom

Warriors: Stumpytail- brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Brownpaw

Boulder- silver tabby tom

Wetfoot- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Oakpaw

*Stonetail*- light gray tom black tail

*Amberpelt*- ginger she-cat

Apprentice, Pinepaw

Brightflower- black and white she-cat

Littlecloud - very small tabby tom

*Mousefang*- brown and white she- cat

Apprentices: Brownpaw- small brown she-cat

Oakpaw- small brown tom

Pinepaw- gray and white she-cat

Queens: Dawncloud- small tabby

Darkflower- black she-cat

Tallpoppy- long legged light brown tabby she-cat

Elders: Ashfur- thin gray tom

WINDCLAN

Leader: Tallstar- elderly black and white tom, very long tail

Deputy: Deadfoot- a black tom with a twisted paw

Medicine cat: Barkface- short-tailed brown tom

Warriors: Mudclaw- mottled dark brown tom

Apprentice, Webpaw

Tornear- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Runningpaw

Onewhisker - brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Whitepaw

*Graywind*- mottled gray tom

*Spottedwing* - tortoiseshell and white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Shrewpaw

Apprentices: Webpaw - dark gray tabby tom

Runningpaw- light gray tabby she-cat

Whitepaw- small white she-cat

*Shrewpaw*- dark gray tom

Queens: Morningflower - tortoiseshell she-cat

Ashfoot- gray she-cat

Elders: *Littlebreeze*- dull gray tom

*Rockfur*- scarred dark gray tabby

*Swift-tail*- a light brown tabby she-cat with black tail

RIVERCLAN

Leader: Crookedstar- a huge light-colored tabby tom with a twisted jaw

Deputy: Leopardfur- unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

Medicine cat: Mudfur- long-haired light brown tom

Warriors:Blackclaw- smoky black tom

Apprentice, Heavypaw

Stonefur- large, broad-shouldered gray tom with amber eyes and battle-scarred ears

Apprentice, Shadepaw

Loudbelly- a dark brown tom

Silverstream- slender silver tabby

*Darkstorm*- huge black tom with blue-gray eyes

*Icestream*- gray and white she-cat

Mosspelt- tortoiseshell she-cat

*Pebblestorm*- mottled dark gray tom

*Honeystream* - light brown she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Logpaw

*Trout-tail*- light gray tom with fluffy tail

*Shellfur*- mottled light gray tom

Apprentices: Heavypaw- thickset heavy tabby tom

Shadepaw- very dark gray she-cat

Silverpaw- silver tom

*Logpaw*- brown tabby tom with long, thick tail

Queens: Mistyfoot - dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Elders: Graypool -a gray she-cat with patched fur, scarred muzzle.

CATS OUTSIDE OF THE CLANS

Smudge- black and white tom

Barley- black and white tom that lives in barn close to forest

Brokenstar- long haired dark brown tabby, former leader of ShadowClan

Blackfoot- big white tom with black paws blue eyes, former deputy of ShadowClan

Clawface- battle-scarred brown tom

Ravenpaw- sleek black cat with white tipped tail

Princess- a light brown tabby with distinctive white chest and paws.

Ruby - gray she-cat amber eyes

Socks- black tom with white muzzle paws and tail tip

Kana- brown and cream marbled tabby she-cat , blue eyes

Talon - dark brown tabby tom with a white chest, amber eyes

Cloudkit- Princess's firstborn kit, long furred white tom

Bone- large blank and white tom

Brick- ginger she-cat with a patch of fur missing on back green eyes

Snake- gray tabby tom

Ice-gray tabby tom

Dagger- large dark brown tom with a white tail tip with amber eyes

Chapter 17

Scourgeclaw, flung himself into the air, landing onto Falconpaw's shoulders. Falconpaw rolled onto his back to try and pin Scourgeclaw beneath his body and Scourgeclaw leaped away from his apprentice and stared at him, carefully analyzing his apprentice's maneuvers. He saw that Falconpaw's training was coming along well, he was getting stronger every day and he patiently listened to whatever Scourgeclaw had to say. 'He still has a bit more training to do, but he'll be a warrior soon, even before his own brother in my opinion.' Scourgeclaw thought to himself as he watched his apprentice, he knew that Longtail was training Falconpaw's brother, Swiftpaw but hadn't ever seen the two of them out training. He twitched his tail as a signal to stop Falconpaw's next attack.

"That's enough for now, let's head back to camp, you and can eat and rest when we get there." Scourgeclaw meowed, padding off in the direction toward the camp. Falconpaw wordlessly followed and Scourgeclaw could see just how tired his apprentice was. They had been out early in the morning hunting and right after had brought Falconpaw to train in the Sandy Hollow. He knew his apprentice was tired and figured it would be a good time to let his apprentice rest. He was also anxious to check on a certain she-cat in the nursery. With that thought in mind he picked up his pace back to camp, with Falconpaw right on his tail.

As they entered camp, Scourgeclaw watched other cats trying to warm their fur in the sun, or leave on patrol and depositing their catches on the fresh-kill pile. He watched Falconpaw break away from him to help his brother, Swiftpaw, drag moss into the elder's den. Scourgeclaw watched them for a moment then headed for the fresh-kill pile pulling out a surprisingly fat thrush and carrying it toward the nursery. He meowed a greeting into the den as he carried the prey into the nursery. Speckaltail curtly nodded to him as he passed her. Frostfur meowed a quick greeting keeping her eyes on her remaining two kits, who Scourgeclaw knew would be joining their brother and sister as apprentices soon, he gave her a brisk greeting as well, Brindleface purred a greeting drowsily, Scourgeclaw noticed her three kits were sleeping peacefully and realized she was trying to get as much sleep as possible before they had her on her paws again. He quietly returned the greeting before padding up to Mossflower who was speaking quietly with the newest nursery queen. Mossflower meowed a brisk greeting, keeping one eye on her kits that were growing stronger and bigger each day. He quietly watched as the two kits tried to stalk her swishing tail, before turning his attention to the queen beside her. He placed the thrush in between her paws, looking expectantly at her.

"Am I so helpless that I cannot even fetch, my own prey now?" the queen grumbled fixing Scourgeclaw with a glare. Scourgeclaw snorted, his tail twitched behind him exasperatedly.

"Who says I brought it for you? I know you have too much pride to take prey so easily. How do you know I didn't bring this for Mossflower?" he inquired with a teasing purr, looking into the queen's eyes.

"You would let me starve?" the queen glared, tail swishing in agitation. Mossflower rolled her eyes and gave a loud snort.

"Mousefur, just eat the thrush, I know you're hungry you were just saying that you were going to go to the fresh-kill pile for prey anyway. Honestly I'm surprised the two of you are even mates, you hardly act like it." Mossflower finished giving the two a harsh stare. Mousefur silently picked up the thrush that Scourgeclaw had brought her, meowing a quick thanks to Scourgeclaw, before pulling off the feathers and gulping down the piece of prey.

Mousefur had joined the queens in the nursery not too long ago announcing that she was with kits. The Clan had been thrilled to hear that there would be more kits in the nursery soon, which also meant more warriors in the near future. Mousefur herself was very close to having their kits as she had hidden her pregnancy well. It had been Yellowfang's own keen eye and sharp tongue that convinced Mousefur to move into the nursery with the other queens. Scourgeclaw watched his dusky brown mate finish her fresh-kill, licking her whiskers clean and purring contently in her nest. She rose and brushed her muzzle against Scourgeclaw's, purring softly. For once Scourgeclaw felt a little embarrassed, he still wasn't use to getting affection and sometimes shied away from it, but he let Mousefur continue to brush her pelt against his own.

Mossflower purred as she watched the two from her nest. She knew as well that Scourgeclaw wasn't the affectionate type and preferred to show his kindness in other ways. It occurred to her that Mousefur didn't often show affection to anyone including her own brother, Runningwind, she wondered briefly if her sudden need to give affection came from her pregnancy. She wasn't able to give it much thought as she felt tiny teeth dig into her tail tip. Mossflower whipped her head around to see her daughter, Birdkit, had latched her jaws firmly into Mossflower's tail. She carefully pawed her away from her tail and meowed for her to get her brother, who was currently sneaking up on Brindleface who was sleeping peacefully along with her kits. Birdkit lowered herself into a semi crouch and pounced onto Bluekit who let out a little squeal as he and his sister began to tumble watched her kits wrestle with each other for a little before turning her attention back to Scourgeclaw who was starting toward the entrance of the nursery.

"Hey Scourgeclaw" she meowed quietly; Scourgeclaw halted and glanced at her curiously. "Have you seen Fireheart today?"

"No, I haven't. Do you wish to speak with him?"

"No, it's just he hasn't been down here to see me recently. I know he's busy with Cinderpaw and his other duties, but even you make time to come down here and at least say hi once in a while, even more so now that Mousefur's here." Mossflower meowed with a little sadness in her voice. She wondered briefly if the lack of the fiery warrior's presence had anything to do with Spottedleaf. She along with Scourgeclaw, could tell that Fireheart's feelings for the former medicine cat had been more than just simple friendship and she wondered if the knowledge that both his brother and friend had mates and kits, either here or on the way, was too painful for him to bear. She was shaken from her thoughts by Scourgeclaw's answer.

"I understand, I'll tell him to come visit you, after we go hunting today." Mossflower blinked at him in surprise. Mousefur was just as surprised as Mossflower.

"I thought you already went hunting today with Falconpaw?" Mousefur meowed curiously from her nest.

"Yes I did, but Fireheart insisted that we hunt together today since we haven't hunted together in a while. So I agreed to go with him as soon as her returns from training with Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw, since he's taken on both their training." Mossflower nodded understandingly. She knew all about Graystripe's incident in the river the a few days ago, but only because Scourgeclaw was able to sneak into the nursery and tell her about it after, Fireheart had told him about it. It saddened her that the fiery warrior hadn't told her what happened personally.

"Well don't over work yourself; we don't need you getting sick." Mousefur meowed. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes, but nodded to Mousefur as he padded out of the nursery. As Scourgeclaw emerged from the nursery he caught a glimpse of fiery ginger fur near the entrance to the gorse tunnel. He looked over and saw Fireheart, Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. He could tell that the two young apprentices' were becoming great hunters by the size of their catch, as he padded over to the three.

Fireheart was the first to notice Scourgeclaw, and his eyes brightened considerably, He quickly sent the apprentices to their den and turned to Scourgeclaw and meowed a greeting to his brother.

"Hey Scourgeclaw are you ready to go?" asked Fireheart, eagerly to his brother.

"Yes we can go now, where are we going to do our hunting?" asked Scourgeclaw curiously. Fireheart purred softly as he looked at his brother.

"Around the pine forest, I have something I want to show you." Fireheart meowed the last part softly. He saw Scourgeclaw's look of curiosity grow more suspicious. Fireheart turned toward the entrance and padded out the gorse tunnel beckoning with his tail for Scourgeclaw to follow him.

They raced through the forest, heading far into the pine forest. Fireheart could see Scourgeclaw's confusion as he continued to lead them further away from the camp and deeper into the pine forest.

They soon were approaching the twolegplace, where Scourgeclaw became very suspicious. He glanced at his brother wondering where the fiery warrior was taking the two of them. Scourgeclaw briefly wondered if Fireheart had been sneaking away from camp to see Smudge, his old friend from his life as a kittypet, the thought agitated Scourgeclaw a little, Smudge had become a useless lump of fur now that he was a gib, instead of a tom, he didn't want Fireheart to start slacking off for his kithood friend, but as they reached the twolegplace, Scourgeclaw realized that they weren't anywhere near Fireheart's old twoleq nest, if fact Scourgeclaw had never seen the fence, that Fireheart was jumping onto, before today. He leaped after his brother, climbing into the tree that was in the garden as his brother began to approach the cat-flap that led into the nest.

"Fireheart, why are we here? What's going on?" he hissed agitated glaring fiercely at his brother.

"It's okay Scourgeclaw just wait a moment." Fireheart meowed softly. Scourgeclaw watched Fireheart meow toward the twoleg nest and look expectantly at the cat-flap. Scourgeclaw watched surprised as a pretty light brown tabby she-cat with a distinctive white chest and paws, emerge from the nest and meowed a friendly greeting to Fireheart. He could also see that this she-cat was pregnant. 'Is this she-cat his mate?' Scourgeclaw wondered as he watched the two, from his pace in the tree, but quickly dismissed the thought. Scourgeclaw remembered that his brother had had feelings for Spottedleaf and didn't think he would move on so quickly after her death and also he realized that this she-cat was very close to kitting and would have had to have gotten pregnant when Spottedleaf had been alive. He didn't have much time to think about it as Fireheart called him down to greet the she-cat. Sighing deeply Scourgeclaw leaped from his place on the tree and padded over to stand beside his brother watching the she-cat carefully. He saw that while the she-cat looked a little surprised she didn't seem hostile or threatening. Scourgeclaw looked at Fireheart expectantly.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me Fireheart?" he meowed carefully. Fireheart nodded quickly turning to the she-cat.

"Princess, this is Scourgeclaw, I told you all about him." Fireheart meowed quickly. Scourgeclaw twitched his tail nervously not liking that Fireheart had been discussing him with this she-cat. Fireheart then turned to him with an excited look in his eye. "Scourgeclaw this is Princess, our sister." Scourgeclaw stared at his brother in shock and looked at Princess again with new eyes. 'Our sister?' he thought briefly as he looked at her. He then remembered the conversation he had had with Fireheart when he first met his half-brother, and remembered Fireheart briefly mentioning Princess' name when he told him about their kin.

"It nice to finally meet you Scourgeclaw, Fireheart told me all about you and I'm happy that he isn't alone in the clan." Princess meowed gently. "Oh I hope you've been getting enough to eat your so thin like Fireheart." Scourgeclaw could hear the worry in her tone as she looked him over.

"I'm fine, and I do get enough to eat I'm the proper weight for a forest cat." Scourgeclaw meowed. Princess nodded understandingly.

"Yes Fireheart told me, I'm so proud of both of you. I don't think I could live out there I the forest. I'm happy here with my housefolk." Princess purred softly. Scourgeclaw couldn't help but compare her to his own littermate Ruby. His sister hadn't been half as supportive of him as Princess was and he barely knew her. "I've heard your mate is expecting kits soon, I'm sure they'll be beautiful. You must be excited."

"I am and I see your close to kitting yourself." He meowed calmly giving her a warm look. She purred softly in response looking affectionately at her swollen belly.

"I can't wait until their born; it will be a relief to see their beautiful pelts and eyes." Princess mewled softly. Scourgeclaw nodded quietly, he didn't miss the look of affection shared between Princess and Fireheart, and he had a warm feeling that was absent whenever he had been around his own littermates.

The ThunderClan warriors stayed with Princess a bit longer before they decided it was best to leave before it got too late in the evening and they still needed to hunt for prey so the Clan wouldn't get suspicious.

After managing to catch a few mice and a vole, the two warriors made their way back into camp to drop the prey into the fresh-kill pile. Fireheart pulled out a shrew from the pile and went to lie down in the in a spot close to the warrior den. Scourgeclaw pulled out a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and looked around. Whitestorm was sharing a squirrel with Willowpelt, Goldenclaw was sharing tongues with Runningwind. Longtail just came into the entrance with Darkstripe and Dustpaw right behind them. Scourgeclaw knew they were returning from dusk patrol. Tigerclaw emerged from the warriors den to greet the returning patrol. Scourgeclaw watched him with narrowed eyes barely containing the growl in his throat. He noticed that Graystripe wasn't anywhere to be seen and figured the tom was in his nest. He padded up to his brother and settled down next to him to eat his fresh-kill. Afterward finishing their fresh-kill they entered the warrior's den and Scourgeclaw saw that Graystripe was missing, but he ignored it for now and curled up into his nest to sleep.

Scourgeclaw was nudged awake by Fireheart, prodding him in his side. Scourgeclaw cracked open an eye to stare questioningly at Fireheart.

"Tigerclaw wants to speak to the two of us." He murmured. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes; he stretched out of his nest and glanced around spotting Graystripe in his nest, he figured the tom had moved somewhere to take a nap the day before, and with that thought he silently followed his brother out of the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw glanced around the clearing, quickly noting that it was misty and he could just barely see across the clearing. He could just make out Tigerclaw sitting beside Whitestorm near the Highrock. The two warriors padded over to the ThunderClan deputy. Whitestorm meowed a greeting to the two warriors, who returned the greeting and dipped their head to Tigerclaw.

"Bluestar wants to give Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw a hunting assessment. "Tigerclaw growled. Fireheart looked at him with curiousity.

"Why do they need to be assessed so soon?" FIreheart asked curiously.

"She wishes to check their progress to make sure they are getting enough train, also we need to decide if Brackenpaw needs a new mentor."

"Graystripe is only got a cold; he should back to training in the next few days." Scourgeclaw meowed icily. Tigerclaw stared at the dark warrior with cold eyes.

"That's not helping Brackenpaw's training, I know that Fireheart has been taking them out every day, but we need to make sure that they are both getting the proper amount of training. Bluestar also wishes for Falconpaw to have an assessment as well." 'Yes because we're just kittypets, we couldn't possibly train good warriors.' Scourgeclaw hissed inwardly.

"With Cinderpaw's enthusiasm we should eat well tonight."Whitestorm meowed with amusement.

"Fine, where should we have the assessment?" Fireheart meowed, forcing Tigerclaw to turn his gaze back on the fiery ginger warrior.

"Send them around Tallpines, have them hunt till sunhigh."The ThunderClan deputy growled out.

"Wouldn't Sunningrocks be better?" Fireheart asked, "The warmth from the sun could help with the fog."

"It's too dangerous to send them there, RiverClan have been scented around there the last few days, and the fog will be a good challenge to test their hunting capabilities." Tigerclaw growled out, Fireheart nodded in agreement, then he and his brother headed off toward the apprentice den, when they were out of earshot Scourgeclaw snorted and Fireheart lashed his tail growling fiercely.

"I bet the only reason we're having this assessment is because the two of us aren't clan-born." Fireheart hissed under his breath. Scourgeclaw nodded and glanced around the clearing once more.

"Come on let's get the apprentices, the sooner we get them out hunting the better." Scourgeclaw meowed quickly. Fireheart nodded and padded toward the apprentice den with Scourgeclaw on his heels. When they reached the apprentice den, Fireheart stuck his head in and called for the three apprentices. The first one out of the den was Falconpaw, who glanced at Fireheart a moment then focused his gaze on Scourgeclaw, who motioned for him to come and sit beside him. Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw were out the den in the next moment.

"Today the three of you will be having a hunting assessment." Fireheart told the three apprentices. Cinderpaw almost couldn't sit still in her excitement, looking like she was ready to race into the forest, Brackenpaw also looked excited but he was more contained then his sister. Falconpaw however looked more indifferent, though FIreheart could see a confident look in his gaze.

"It will be a little challenging in this fog, but we are confident that each of you will do well."Scourgeclaw meowed. "You will hunt near Tallpines, Fireheart and I will be watching you, we'll be watching how you handle the fog and your techniques."

"You'll be hunting till sunhigh, you may leave whenever you like, but remember it's not a race so take your time." Fireheart added. As soon as Fireheart had finished his statement Cinderpaw raced out of the camp entrance, with Brackenpaw trailing behind her sighing a little. Falconpaw glanced at his mentor for a moment before charging after the younger two apprentices. Fireheart and Scourgeclaw watched them go a moment, and then followed them at a slower pace.

"I'll watch Brackenpaw first, and then I'll move on to Falconpaw, that way you can keep an eye on Cinderpaw for a while, then you can check on Brackenpaw." Scourgeclaw murmured into Fireheart's ear. Fireheart agreed as they pushed their way through the gorse tunnel to chase after their apprentices.

Scourgeclaw watched carefully as Brackenpaw pounced onto a shrew, delivering a quick bite to the small creature then burying it into the ground. He followed silently behind the golden brown apprentice, keeping to the shadows, but following closer then he would had the forest not been cloaked in a layer of mist, knowing that the misty air would help hide his pelt and scent. It wasn't long until Brackenpaw came across a thrush and he quickly caught and buried the bird into the ground. Scourgeclaw had seen the apprentice already catch three other pieces of prey and was certain the tom would pass his assessment without fail. With that thought in mind Scourgeclaw silently padded off to find his apprentice.

As he backtracked to find Falconpaw's scent, he heard a few voices talking not too far away. As he got closer he saw it was Fireheart talking to Cinderpaw. From what he could make out Cinderpaw had come up to FIreheart to ask how they were doing on their assessment. As he watched the two of them, he let his gaze fall on Cinderpaw again. 'If she is trained well, she could become his mate, I'll have to watch her training carefully.' Scourgeclaw thought briefly before reminding himself that he needed to check his own apprentice's training and once more allowed himself to be engulfed into the fog that cover the forest.

Okay that's it for this chapter. Things have happened in this chapter, Scourgeclaw got to meet Princess, and Mousefur is his mate… It surprised me too…Well let me know what you think.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Okay sorry I haven't updated this story in a long while but I've had a lot of things to do and was just able to get this chapter done. I've added a partial allegiance in this Chapter since I've been away.**

**These cats don't make an appearance but they are mentioned in this chapter. These are not all the cats in BloodClan, just the important ones. Again any cat whose name has an *asterisk* surrounding their name are cats I've created.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors or any original characters. **

**BloodClan**

Current Leader: *Dagger*- large dark brown tom with a white tail tip with amber eyes

Deputy: *Ash*- dark gray tom with black tipped tail and paws

Guards: *Fang*- ginger tom with amber eyes

*Striker*- gray tabby tom

*Nails*- dark gray tom with gold eyes

*Peach*- pale ginger she-cat

*Willow*- gray she-cat with white chest muzzle and legs green eyes

*Silver*- pretty silver tabby she-cat deep blue eyes

*Stitch*- light brown tabby she-cat with white paws and muzzle long scratch on her right shoulder

Lower Guards: *Scarlet*- dark ginger she-cat

*Hickory* - brown tabby tom with a white chest, and forepaws

Bone- black and white tom, a secret Scourge supporter

Snake- a black and white tom, a secret Scourge supporter

Ice- a black and white tom with an under bite, a secret Scourge supporter

*Digger*- brown tabby and white tom

**Scourge claw's Guards**: Brick- ginger she-cat with a patch of fur missing on her back, green eyes

Snipe- large brown and black tom with a short tail, and amber eyes

*Aztec*- golden-brown tom with dark brown rosettes, hawk-like amber eyes

*Blossom*- gray she-cat with feathery legs and tail bright green eyes

Wille- a brown tabby tom with a stripe down his back, a lighter muzzle, and small triangular stripes above his head

Minty- a dark gray she-cat

Tess- thin gray she-cat with a light gray chest and a light gray rain drop-shaped marking on her forehead

Pounce- a light brown tabby tom with a lazy eye and a lower canine sticking out of his mouth

Snapper- a long-haired tortoiseshell and white tom with yellow eyes

Chapter 18

By Sunrise all three apprentices had caught a sizable amount of prey despite the fog that covered the forest, Scourgeclaw and Fireheart lead the apprentices back to camp helping them carry the prey back to camp.

Once they arrived at camp, they began to put the prey into the fresh-kill pile. Tigerclaw who saw them enter camp, came to see how amount of prey the apprentices had caught.

"They caught all this prey?" he asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Yes they did." Scourgeclaw answered fixing Tigerclaw with a challenging stare. "And there is more that needs to be retrieved from the forest."

"They can retrieve that themselves, Bluestar wishes to speak with you both about their assessment." Tigerclaw meowed. "Grab some prey and come eat with us." With that the ThunderClan deputy pulled out a piece of fresh-kill and started to head over to where Bluestar was waiting, but he paused briefly looking over at the two warriors.

"Have either of you seen Graystripe? He is supposed to stay confined to camp, until his cold is better." Tigerclaw added looking them both over. Fireheart's eyes widened in surprise and Scourgeclaw stared indifferently at Tigerclaw.

"No I haven't seen him." Scourgeclaw meowed evenly. Fireheart shook his head, his emerald eyes full of concern.

"Well if you see him tell him he isn't allowed out of camp until his cold is better." Tigerclaw meowed than quickly headed off to Bluestar. Scourgeclaw watched him go with an irritated flick of his tail. Fireheart turned to speak to the three apprentices who were watching them with envious eyes. He quickly sent them off to gather the rest of the prey. Fireheart turned to his brother and could tell that Scourgeclaw was annoyed by Tigerclaw.

"Come on let's get some fresh-kill." Fireheart coaxed him toward the fresh-kill pile. He began to reach for a thrush when Scourgeclaw stopped him.

"Take the vole instead," he meowed. Fireheart looked at him strangely.

"Why is there something wrong with the thrush?"

"No, I just didn't think you would want to report to Bluestar with a mouth full of feathers" Scourgeclaw looked at him in amusement. Fireheart looked at the thrush a moment then picked up a fat shrew that was in the pile, and then blinked gratefully at his brother, who was looking through the pile of fresh-kill. Scourgeclaw finally settled for a plump vole that was in the fresh-kill pile and headed where Bluestar and Tigerclaw were eating their prey. The two warriors nodded respectfully to their deputy and their leader before settling down with their fresh-kill.

"I see the apprentices brought in a lot of prey today. It's good to know that they can hunt in mist." Bluestar remarked as she watched the apprentices carry in the rest of their catch.

"They did well, Brackenpaw showed no problem with having his sight hindered in the mist, he caught a fair share of prey, Cinderpaw was very quick on her paws and she responded as if there wasn't any mist to hinder her sight, it didn't slow down her progress and she used it to her advantage, the mist hid her pelt and allowed her to get close to her prey. Falconpaw used stealth and ambushed his prey a few times during his assessment; he used the mist to hide his scent in the air." Scourgeclaw reported with a soft voice. Bluestar looked thoughtful before turning her gaze to Fireheart.

"Scourgeclaw is right; the apprentices each used various methods to catch their prey in the mist. It didn't hinder them in the slightest and I believe it made them hunt better." Fireheart added to Scourge claw's assessment of the three apprentices.

"Yes I can see that, tell me Fireheart what do you think of your apprentice?"

"She can be stubborn but she makes up for that with her enthusiasm." Bluestar watched him closely.

"Her enthusiasm worries me, it was something I was concerned about when I assigned her to you."

"But, she focuses well with Brackenpaw and she is a good listener and a quick learner." Scourgeclaw interjected before Bluestar could go any further.

"That may be but if he can't control her, why should she let him look after two apprentices?" Tigerclaw growled. Scourgeclaw fixed his ice blue gaze on the smoldering amber of Tigerclaw. Scourgeclaw discreetly flexed his claws as he watched the clan deputy. Bluestar looked at Tigerclaw giving him pensive look.

"Tigerclaw you feel different?" Bluestar asked Tigerclaw nodded slowly fixing his gaze on Fireheart.

"Yes, he just became a warrior and now you've given him an apprentice and you plan to make him responsible of our two newest apprentices I don't think he is ready. Why can't Longtail or Darkstripe take a second apprentice?" Tigerclaw asked calmly.

"Longtail is keeping his attention focused on Swiftpaw and Darkstripe is trying to get Dustpaw ready for his warrior assessment."

"Then what about Runningwind and Goldenclaw, neither of them have apprentices?"

"Runningwind's talents lie elsewhere and Goldenclaw has a strong attached to his kits, I don't think he'll focus enough on their training." Bluestar meowed patiently. "Fireheart has done well enough on his own I'm going to let him continue training Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw, until Graystripe is better." Tigerclaw looked away from Bluestar. Bluestar touched the tip of her tail to Tigerclaw's flank.

"I understand your concerns Tigerclaw and they are justified, but I believe that Fireheart can handle this duty." 'Yes you're only resentful because he and I are kittypets' Scourgeclaw mentally growled but, his face stayed impassive.

"Thank you for your confidence in me Bluestar, I promise I won't let you down." Bluestar gave a gentle nod to Fireheart.

"Well it seems Graystripe has decided to make an appearance." Tigerclaw meowed, keeping his gaze fixed on the gray warrior as he padded over to the warrior's den.

"He may have gone to find some peace and quiet." Fireheart meowed watching Graystripe as well.

"Well he needs to stay confined to the camp, leaf-bare is close and we don't need any cats getting sick with greencough. We lost a lot of kits last leaf-bare." Tigerclaw growled. "I thought I heard Willowpelt coughing on patrol yesterday, we need to contain it before it spreads."

"You should share your shrew with Graystripe, Fireheart I'm sure he'll appreciate it. " Fireheart dipped his head to his leader and deputy respectively; he touched his nose to his brother's flank, and then picked up his brother's vole, nudging the shrew over to Scourgeclaw, who gave him a questioning look.

"I'm sure you'll want to give it to Mousefur, you know that shrew is her favorite prey." Fireheart meowed softly. Scourgeclaw nodded and blinked gratefully at Fireheart.

"I'm sure you want to check on Mousefur, you may leave now Scourgeclaw." Scourgeclaw dipped his head respectively and picked up the shrew and headed over to the nursery. Pushing his way into the nursery, Scourgeclaw padded passed the queens making his way over to Mousefur, who looked up from her spot in her nest.

"Hello Scourgeclaw is that shrew for me?" she asked softly. Scourgeclaw nodded as he made his way over to his mate. He tried to avoid stepping on the kits that were wrestling in the nursery. He watched Ashkit pounce onto Birdkit, who squealed and tried to wriggle her way from underneath him. Her brother, Bluekit came to her rescue leaping onto Ashkit's back sinking his teeth into his ear, causing Ashkit to squeal and let go of Birdkit. Fernkit charged at Bluekit, who released Ashkit and dodged out of the way and almost stepped on Mossflower's tail. Mossflower was watching the kits from her nest giving a nod to Scourgeclaw as he passed. Scourgeclaw nodded in return, and then placed his shrew in front of Mousefur. Mousefur thanked him and began to eat the shrew, while Scourgeclaw looked around the nursery. Scourgeclaw noticed that Smokekit wasn't playing with the other kits, he was curled up in Brindleface's nest and he looked very tired. Mousefur followed his gaze.

"Smokekit is a little ill, Brindleface will probably take him to see Yellowfang soon, maybe tomorrow." She meowed softly.

"The sooner, the better" Scourgeclaw replied watching the little gray kit, trying to sleep. He watched the kits a bit longer with Mousefur and Mossflower, telling them about the apprentice's assessment and how they all did; both she-cats were thrilled with how well the apprentices were doing.

"I want to go hunting with Scourgeclaw." Bluekit meowed as he stalked Scourge claw's tail.

"I'm a better hunter than you are." Birdkit meowed puffing up her little chest as she stared at her brother.

"No you're not; you couldn't catch a beetle in your sleep." Bluekit teased as dived behind his mother to avoid Birdkit trying to pounce on him. Mossflower purred in amusement as she watched her kits chase each other around her nest. Scourgeclaw shook his head slowly and Mousefur purred his gaze was wistful as she watched the kits. Scourgeclaw briefly wondered if his kits would be this way or if they would behave the way Ruby and Socks did when he was a kit. He watched the kits a bit longer before saying goodbye to the queens and heading for the warrior's den to rest.

Scourgeclaw stretched out of his nest and could feel damp cold air clinging to his pelt. He figured it would rain today, as he pushed his way out of the warrior's den. He looked around and noticed Fireheart leading out the gorse tunnel and figured his brother might be going to hunt. He headed toward the nursery deciding to make sure Mousefur was okay, before he took Falconpaw to the training hollow. When he looked in, he saw that Mossflower was still asleep but her kits were playing with Ashkit and Mousefur was keeping an eye on them. He quietly approached the dusky brown queen and sat down beside her nest.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm more concerned about Brindleface's kits, two of them don't look so well, they don't have greencough, but…" Mousefur trailed off and Scourgeclaw knew what she meant, they may not have it now but they could get it at any time.

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to get you some fresh-kill?" he asked quietly. Mousefur shook her head,

"No I'm fine, but you should go hunting today and help keep of the pile." Scourgeclaw sighed and just as quietly as he enter the nursery he left it and was about to gather, Falconpaw to go hunting when he caught the scent of Graystripe. He followed it the scent an opening just big enough for a cat to get through. Scourgeclaw followed the scent through the hole and was surprised to find Fireheart's scent around it as well, and that scent was fresh.

Scourgeclaw followed his brother's scent, it start to head in the direction of the training hollow then veered off in the direction of Sunningrocks and kept going through RiverClan territory. He grew more curious the more he followed.

When they reached Sunningrocks, he saw that Fireheart had hidden himself behind a bramble bush and was looking straight ahead. Scourgeclaw looked in the same direction and saw Graystripe sitting near the river. He watched as Graystripe called out across the river, and moments later a pretty silver tabby appeared and swam over to the ThunderClan side of the river bank. He watched in surprise as Graystripe warmly greeted the silver tabby and even let his pelt get wet in the process. He looked over at Fireheart, who he noticed was wearing a look of shock on his face. In an instant, Fireheart leaped from his hiding place and moved to confront the two cats. Graystripe and the silver tabby turned and looked at him in surprise.

Scourgeclaw listened closely to the conversation that took place and from what he gathered; Graystripe had been disappearing to see this RiverClan, warrior who happened to be the daughter of Crookedstar, RiverClan's current leader. He could understand the agitation in Fireheart's voice; it was a dangerous situation, considering RiverClan was mad about what had occurred at the gorge after Graystripe and Fireheart brought WindClan home. Scourgeclaw watched a bit longer as the silver tabby, whose named he had learned was Silverstream, swim back to the other side and Fireheart and Graystripe head back toward the camp. Fireheart and Graystripe seemed to argue a little as they walked, making it clear how they both felt about the matter.

When they reached camp, Graystripe wordlessly enter the gorse tunnel, leaving Fireheart alone on the outside. Scourgeclaw decided to confront his brother then.

"You can't stop him you know." Fireheart jumped at the sound of Scourge claw's voice. "It's his mistake to make you need to let him make it."

"How much have you heard?" Fireheart asked quietly.

"I heard and saw it all, and my advice to you is to let Graystripe make his own mistakes. You can't protect him, and he doesn't need your protection. He chose to see her; now he must deal with the consequences of his actions should they occur." Scourgeclaw meowed evenly. He could tell Fireheart didn't agree with what he was saying, but the fiery warrior only nodded and padded away from him toward the training hollow.

"I'm going to train with Runningwind, Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw now." He meowed as he walked away. Scourgeclaw had a feeling that Fireheart was going to do something dangerous the second he enter the camp, but figured Fireheart need to make his own mistakes as well, to understand his point. He decided it was best to try and get Falconpaw before it started raining and take the tom out hunting, He also wanted to get enough rest, for tonight he was meeting someone important. With this thought in mind he padded into camp to look for his apprentice.

Scourgeclaw crept quietly through the forest heading for his private camp. The sun had set a while ago and it had begun to rain not too long ago, the water dripped from his sleek black pelt as he padded through the forest.

When he reached his camp he slid in soundlessly, padding into the clearing, which was a little muddy and looking around, despite the rain Scourgeclaw could make out the fresh scents that were there, one of which he expected, but the other two scents weren't unwelcome. Moments later he caught sight of a bright ginger pelt emerge from a den, followed by a brown and black tom and a golden brown tom with dark brown rosettes. Scourgeclaw recognized the two cats along with the ginger she cat that lead them out of the den.

"Brick, why have you brought them here?" Scourgeclaw asked with a soft yet cold voice. Brick looked nervously at him, letting her gaze flicker at the two toms before looking into Scourge claw's icy gaze.

"Forgive me Scourgeclaw, but they didn't trust me when I told them I had found you and your orders I had given them, they wanted proof you were alive and that it was you." She meowed evenly keeping her gaze steady. Scourgeclaw seemed to accept her answer before turning to the other two toms.

"Well Snipe, Aztec do you believe her now?" Scourgeclaw asked letting his icy gaze linger on the two toms. Snipe and Aztec exchanged looks briefly and Aztec was about to speak, but Brick cut him off.

"I think it would be wiser to speak in the den," she meowed shaking her coat. Scourgeclaw nodded I agreement and lead the group into the den he and Brick spoke in the last time she was in the forest. Once everyone had gotten dry, Aztec started up their talk once more.

"It isn't that we didn't want to believe her, it just that before Brick found us, we had run into Fang, Stitch and Hickory and they told us that Dagger had killed you and that he had exiled all your supporters." Aztec growled a little.

"We weren't sure who we could trust, we didn't know if Brick was working with Dagger like Bone is or if she was still on your side." Snipe spoke up.

"Bone, Snake and Ice are all on my side, they've been trying to get on Dagger's good side so he won't suspect them." Scourgeclaw meowed.

"What of Willow? She was on your side, but she has become one of Dagger's guards."

"Willow is likely doing the same; but tell me who are all on Dagger's Guard and are there any new faces?"

"Well you know about Bone, Snake and Ice their apart of Dagger's lower Guard" Snipe meowed lowly. "Along with Hickory, Digger and Scarlet, Dagger seems to trust them, but not with very much especially Bone, Snake and Ice, Digger too which is odd since Dagger is his brother." Scourgeclaw blinked slowly in surprise by that statement, Dagger was almost always found with Digger; when he had been in charge of the cats, it was strange to hear that Dagger didn't trust his own brother.

"The higher Guard, is made up of Fang, Stitch, Nails, Peach, Willow, Striker and this new cat who joined not long after you first disappeared, her name is Silver, Dagger has taken a real liking to her, she was one of his main supporters during his take over." Aztec growled slightly.

"That may be true, but I think she regrets helping him" Brick added. Snipe and Aztec stared at her in shock.

"How can you say that after she almost killed Pounce and nearly broke Blossom's foreleg, just for speaking out against, Dagger?" Aztec snarled in anger his tail lashing violently behind him. Scourgeclaw watched the tom closely, Aztec was usually more reserved and quiet, to see him so angry meant that the injuries that Pounce and Aztec's mate Blossom, had received from Silver were bad enough for Aztec to want severe payback. Scourgeclaw raised his tail for silence before turning to look at Brick.

"Why do you think she regrets helping Dagger?" Scourgeclaw asked with a little curiosity. Brick stared at Aztec, almost wondering whether the tom would attack her or not if she tried to speak, she then faced Scourgeclaw.

"I've seen her without the other guards around giving food to some of the starving cats and helping queen's hide their kits from the patrols Dagger sends out to remove them from their mothers." Scourgeclaw listened to her with a thoughtful expression on his face, before covering it with indifference.

"Keep an eye on her; before we strike I want to know her allegiance." Scourgeclaw icily meowed.

"What about the others?" Snipe asked quickly.

"The ones supporting Dagger don't surprise me; they were always close to one another in the past." Scourgeclaw meowed.

"And Stitch, what of her?" hissed Snipe.

"Stitch has always chosen to side with the stronger opponent, it doesn't surprise me that she has joined Dagger, she probably believes that Dagger has defeated me and that is the only reason she is with him." Scourgeclaw softly growled.

"You think she'd join us if she knew you were alive?" Aztec questioned.

"Yes I do, because she only has loyalty to herself and only cares about what's best for her. "

"Unless she really likes Dagger" Brick spoke out suddenly. "She's always trying to look like she's the best around him even going out her way to please him." Scourgeclaw seemed to consider her information.

"Keep an eye out for her as well, if turns out she is loyal to Dagger than she'll be dealt with as the others are, if not then will use her for another purpose, is that understood?" Scourgeclaw made sure his piercing icy gaze reached every cat present, before turning to Brick

"Now Brick I trust all the others were told of my plan?" The ginger she-cat nodded.

"They've been told but they're not ready yet. It will take a while for them to recover their strength." Brick answered. Scourgeclaw nodded as if expecting the answer.

"I expect as much, any injuries?"

"Other than the injuries Blossom and Pounce received, were some scratches and bites, most were shallow but there were plenty of deep wounds it will be a while before we're ready.

"Very well you all may leave, but be careful with your tracks, these cats are territorial and they won't tolerate a group of rogues entering their territory uninvited."

"Why, are you here Scourge, what's keeping you here?" asked Aztec

"I have a protégé who I've been training for a while, I plan to have him rule beside me, but as I told Brick he is not yet ready, and he has a close bond with this Clan, I am working on him, but that is only part of the reason I don't want any cats finding out about me before I am ready, its best for me to stay here for the time." Scourgeclaw growled, if it were any other cats he would have simply told them it was none of their business, but these cats were once a part of his trusted guard and he trusted them with this information.

"Until next time"

**~ Okay what do you think of this Chapter?**

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while but school got in the way among other things and I didn't get around to working on chapters.**

**Anyway Scourgeclaw has visited more of his cats and he knows Graystripe's secret think he'll tell anyone?**

**The next Chapter should be ready soon. ~**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here's the next Chapter **

**Probably didn't think it was coming so soon huh?**

Chapter 19

The next day a little after sunhigh, Scourgeclaw was out hunting in the Pine forest, partially to get away from the somber air of the camp, with Bluestar sick with whitecough, every cat was on edge and nervous, but he mostly wanted to make sure that the clan didn't discover, Brick, Snipe and Aztec's prints or scent in the forest, fortunately the rain that had continued from late last night to the early morning, had washed away their scent and they had been careful with their paw prints, so Scourgeclaw was satisfied with his cats. He then decided it would be better to actually hunt, since it was leaf-bare and prey was starting to become hard to find. He decided to try closer to camp to see if he could find any prey, before he trained Falconpaw, later in the evening.

Scourgeclaw had managed to find a mouse and a skinny shrew, and was about to take them back to camp when he caught sight of Cinderpaw, heading toward the thunderpath alone. He dropped his prey and raced after her, and he called out to her to stop, but it was clear she heard him too late. Scourgeclaw spat crossly as he made his way to the injured apprentice and a flicker of shock crossed over him when he saw Tigerclaw appear over her still for looking down at her in confusion. Scourgeclaw felt the fur on his neck raise at the sight. 'He could have stopped her, he was close enough to stop her, what a waste, she would have been the perfect mate for Fireheart, she already respected him and was strong and cunning, teaching her would have been easy, she would have been a fine addition to my cats.' He hissed angrily. When he reached them Tigerclaw had already moved her from the thunderpath. Tigerclaw looked at Scourgeclaw as he approached.

"Why was she here? Who sent her here?" Tigerclaw growled. Scourgeclaw hissed in anger.

"I don't know why she was here, I've been hunting." Scourgeclaw growled.

"Cinderpaw" a familiar voice called out, which Scourgeclaw recognized immediately as Fireheart. Scourgeclaw called out to his brother, who followed Scourgeclaw's voice to find Cinderpaw injured.

"Why was she here?" Tigerclaw asked again, this time looking at Fireheart.

"She was looking for you." Fireheart meowed sadly, never taking his eyes off Cinderpaw.

"Why did you send her? I asked for Bluestar." Tigerclaw growled in anger. Fireheart turned his gaze toward Tigerclaw and Scourgeclaw could see an emerald fire of anger burning in his eyes as he stared into Tigerclaw's eyes.

"Bluestar has greencough, and I didn't send Cinderpaw to you she was supposed to stay in camp." He spat angrily at the Thunderclan deputy,and then gently picked up Cinderpaw, Scourgeclaw padded over to help him carry her back to camp. Tigerclaw followed them in stony silence.

Mossflower had come into Bluestar's den to see her mother, having heard that she had caught greencough. Yellowfang was feeding her catmint and Goldenflower and placed some wet moss on her head to try and lower her fever. She had never seen her mother look so frail, she was used to seeing her as a strong individual as if nothing could stop her; It upset her greatly to see the ThunderClan leader in this state. She padded forward and helped Goldenflower try to keep Bluestar cool, as Yellowfang did whatever she could to help Bluestar.

Suddenly, the lichen to the entrance of Buestar's den moved and Tigerclaw appeared, his gaze fixed on Yellowfang.

"Yellowfang, Cinderpaw was hit by a monster, she needs your help, and Scourgeclaw and Fireheart are with her now." He meowed firmly. Mossflower blinked at him in shock. 'Cinderpaw is hurt?' she thought worriedly, she wanted to see Fireheart knowing he must be upset by the state of his apprentice, but she didn't want to leave Bluestar. However it was Yellowfang who ended up deciding for her.

"You need to get back to your kits Mossflower, they'll be worried about you, Bluestar would want you taking care of your kits during this time." She rasped quietly as she pushed though the lichen to Bluestar's den. Mossflower glanced back at her mother briefly, before padding back to the nursery. Her kits were currently in Mousefur's nest along with Ashkit, the dusky queen was trying to sooth the worried kits. Brindleface was currently fussing over Fernkit and Smokekit both had a slight cough and were curled up in their mother's nest. Mossflower passed on the news about Cinderpaw to Frostfur, who herded her remaining kits into her nest and wordlessly padded out of the nursery. Mossflower wasn't sure what to make of all the sickness and injuries. She knew life in the Clans would be difficult, but it pained her to think of something like this happening to her own kits and she briefly wondered if she could handle losing one or both of her kits and she couldn't answer herself. She padded over to Mousefer, and softly thanked her for watching her kits. She rounded up her kits and Ashit knowing that her own kits gave the young tom comfort and curled protectively around them in her nest. She silently hoped that things would get better soon.

Scourgeclaw stood outside of Yellowfang's den waiting for Fireheart to emerge. He knew his brother was upset by the state of his apprentice and the news of Bluestar's greencough. He flicked his tail angrily nowing that Cinderpaw's injuries could have been avoided, if Tigerclaw wasn't so incompetent. After hearing that the only reason she went looking for the dark tabby deputy was because he 'claimed' to have found evidence of ShadowClan in their territory and wanted to show Bluestar, only they hadn't found a shred of evidence to confirm this little claim or even be worth Bluestar making a trip out of the camp to see him even if she had been in good health. Scourgeclaw had to stop himself several times from going after Tigerclaw and sharping his claw's along the deputy's spine. Scourgeclaw was shaken from his musings by Fireheart as he joined him outside of Yellowfang's den.

"Well , how is she?" he asked softly. Fireheart sighed sadly.

"Yellowfang says she might be able to save her but it's too soon to tell." Scourgeclaw nodded as if he were expecting the answer.

"And what of Bluestar?" Scourgeclaw asked softly

"Yellowfang said she's done all she can to help her, it's up to StarClan now, she told me to sit with her." Fireheart meowed solemnly. Scourgeclaw had to keep from rolling his eyes, when Fireheart mentioned StarClan, not really believing in their existence, but held his tongue knowing that both Fireheart and Mossflower believed in them.

"So what know?"

"I don't know I want to see Bluestar, but I know Mossflower must be greatly upset and I wan't to go comfort her." Fireheart said. Scourgeclaw touched his tail to his brother's shoulder.

"Go to Bluestar, I'll check on Mossflower, I was going to check on Mousefur anyway." Fireheart blinked gratefully and headed toward Bluestar's den, he paused briefly and turned back to Scourgeclaw.

"Let me know how her kits are doing." Fireheart meowed, and then headed back toward Bluestar's den. Scourgeclaw headed toward the nursery.

When Scourgeclaw enter the nursery he could see the tension was just as strong in the nursery as the rest of the camp, Scourgeclaw was so used to seeing the kits playing in the clearing and the nursery, so he was greatly disturbed to see the kits so subdued. He glanced over at Brindleface and saw the queen give him a sad look. He noticed that the young queen, only had two kits in her nest and they were both sneezing and giving off little coughs. He glanced around the rest of the camp and could see Frostfur's kits in their mother's nest looking solemn. He saw Speckletail was in her nest with a dark look on her face. He saw that Mousefur was curled up in her nest sleeping peacefully, and beside her in her own nest with her kits and Brindleface's third kit was Mossflower, he carefully made his way over to her.

Mossflower's ears twitched at the sound of someone padding toward her, she immediately recognized Scourgeclaw's scent and looked up as he looked at her.

"Are you okay?" Scourgeclaw asked gently. Mossflower nodded slowly, but she could tell he didn't believe as she stared into his ice blue eyes. "I'm guessing you heard about Cinderpaw?" she nodded again.

"How's Fireheart taking it?" she asked softly.

"He'll be okay once he realizes it wasn't his fault." He answered softly, she noticed him looking at her kits. "How are your kits doing?"

"They're fine for now, they've been keeping Ashkit company." She meowed just as softly, running her tail over the sleeping kits.

"How's Mousefur doing?" he asked not wanting to disturb his sleeping mate.

"She's fine as well, don't worry she hasn't been coughing or anything she hasn't been near any sick cats and she eats well." Scourgeclaw nodded in acceptance of this answer. Mossflower looked around briefly before asking Scourgeclaw. "Where is Fireheart?" Scourgeclaw looked around before answering in a soft voice that only Mossflower could hear.

"He is with your mother." Mossflower nodded and was a little relieved, she was glad Fireheart was sitting with Bluestar and that her mother wasn't alone while she had greencough. Scourgeclaw sighed once more looking around the nursery before turning to leave.

" I have guard duty to night, I'll come and see you and Mousefur in the morning, if Fireheart is up by then I'll make sure he comes and visits you and the kits." Scourgeclaw meowed quietly.

"Okay Scourgeclaw, see you tomorrow." Scourgeclaw padded toward the entrance of the camp and sat quietly and patiently through the night listening to the sounds of his clanmates resting.

At Dawn Scourgeclaw was relieved by Whitestorm who was taking out the dawn patrol, and headed back into the clearing. Scourgeclaw headed for the nursery, going in to quietly speak to Mossflower and Mousefur, before deciding to head to his nest to sleep. When he reached his nest he found Fireheart asleep, with Graystripe glaring at his brother silently. Scourgeclaw curled up in the nest beside his brother and quickly joined his brother in sleep.

When Scourgeclaw awoke the next day he looked around the warrior's den and noticed that Graystripe wasn't in his nest. He shrugged it off as the gray warrior meeting the RiverClan she-cat he stretched out of his nest and started toward the entrance of the den to look for Fireheart. He was halted by a wall of snow that blocked the way to the clearing. Scourgeclaw could barely make out the movement in the camp. Scourgeclaw leaped for through the snow, sinking into the snow that reached just passed his muzzle. Bounding as quickly as he could trying not to let himself get overwhelmed, he finally made it to the clearing just in time to see Fireheart watching in agitation as Graystripe walked away from him. Scourgeclaw padded up to him and asked him how he was doing.

"Fine, Graystripe is aggravating me with his visits to Silverstream, he needs to think about his Clan." He growled. Just then Speckletail padded up to the two warriors with a look of worry in her gaze.

"Is Tigerclaw in the den?" she asked them softly. They both shook their heads.

"If you see him tell then tell him that greencough just reached the nursery, and two of Brindleface's kits have greencough." Fireheart and Scourgeclaw looked at her in shock.

"Will they be alright? They're not going to die are they?" asked Fireheart. Speckletail only shrugged.

"They might it has happened before." She answered gravely as she walked away. Scourgeclaw felt an urge to see Mossflower and Mousefur but decided against it, knowing they were alright since Speckletail didn't mention any other sick queens or kits. Fireheart emerald eyes seemed to burn in fury as he hissed into Scourgeclaw's ear.

"Does no one care that those kits are sick and that we might lose them?"

"It is a part of life, a harsh part of life but a part of life, I saw this when I was in the twolegplace, it was hard to watch but it got easier with time." Scourgeclaw meowed gravely. He nudged Fireheart toward the gorse tunnel. "Come let's go gather more catmint for Yellowfang." Fireheart nodded follow his brother through the gorse tunnel. Neither warrior noticed the pair of amber eyes watching them as the left the camp.

The two brothers made their way through the forest, finding the twoleg path and making their way to the Twolegplace. It wasn't long until they were at their old twoleg nest. They hopped onto the fence then just as quickly leaped down into their old garden and made their way over to the bushes of catmint. They each took a generous amount of catmint leaves from the bush, both deciding it would be best to take as many as they could, since the bush might die in the middle of the leaf-bare. They leaped back over the fence with their faces crammed full of catmint. Scourgeclaw started back towards the camp but stopped when his brother took off, running across the edge of the forest. Scourgeclaw chased after him racing to keep up with his brother. It wasn't long until he recognized the fence that belong to his sister Princess and realized that Fireheart probably wanted to check on her, since she was so close to kitting. He helped his brother dig a hole through the snow and buried their catmint leaves beneath a pile of leaves. Fireheart leaped into his sister's garden and called out to her. Scourgeclaw leaped into Princess' garden and sat down waiting patiently next to Fireheart. He was just as surprised as Fireheart was to see their sister emerge from her twoleg nest look much slimmer than the last time he had seen her.

"You've kitted," purred Fireheart happily. Princess purred in return.

"Yes I have five healthy kits." Princess purred softly. Princess turned to look at Scourgeclaw with a warm expression on her face.

"How's Mousefur, has she had your kits yet." Scourgeclaw shook his head slowly.

"No but any day now they should come." He meowed softly. Princess purred

" I'm sure you'll be a great father" she meowed softly. "What brings the two of you here?"

"We were gathering catmint for our medicine cat, so she can fight off the sickness in the camp." Princess looked worried.

"Cats are sick?" Fireheart nodded sadly.

"Yes our leader was sick too, she lost one of her lives to greencough." Princess looked confused.

"She lost a life? You mean the forest cats really do get nine lives?" she asked in shock.

"Just the leaders and yes they get nine lives." Fireheart told her. Scourgeclaw remained silent not wanting to challenge his brother's beliefs.

"Fireheart's apprentice was also injured the other day, she may never walk again." Scourgeclaw meowed softly. Princess nuzzled Fireheart gently.

" You spoke so fondly of her the last time we talked what happened to her?" Scourgeclaw did his best to keep the snarl out of his throat as he told Princess about Tigerclaw's claim of ShadowClan in the forest and the events that led up to Cinderpaw's injury.

"It wouldn't have happened if I had been able to stop her from leaving camp."

"Tigerclaw shouldn't have bother Bluestar, and why did he choose such a dangerous place to meet with her?"

"Could it have been a trap?" Princess asked them curiously. Scourgeclaw focused his eyes onto Princess and seriously thought about her claim. If it was a trap and Bluestar had come she could have died if she had been in Cinderpaw's place. Then Tigerclaw would be the leader. He thought in horror.

"Maybe, it's a little confusing right now, so much is happening we might be over thinking it." Fireheart meowed and glanced at Scourgeclaw. "And I think we should get the catmint back to camp now." Princess nodded in understand and the three siblings bid each other farewell then hop the fence to walk over to the pile of catmint they buried. Suddenly they heard a low wail not far from where they were. Scourgeclaw stiffened briefly before taking off in the direction of the sound. He knew who had made it and he was hoping that he was wrong. He quickly found a cat lying in the snow and his heart nearly stopped. It was Mousefur and she was kitting. Scourgeclaw quickly found himself at his mate's side.

"What are you doing out here?" he hissed, Mousefur wailed again in pain.

"I wanted to go for a walk, and I saw you and Fireheart so I followed you. I didn't think you would go so far." She breathed. Scourgeclaw inwardly hissed at himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. Fireheart came up and looked at Scourgeclaw in worry.

"I'll get Princess, Yellowfang will be too late and too busy to leave the camp right now." Fireheart meowed racing back toward Princess garden. Scourgeclaw licked Mousefur's head in reassurance. He looked around for a better place for her to kit. A few tail-length's away he saw an tree with large enough roots for a few cats to shelter under. He raced over and dug out enough snow to allow them to fit under there, just as Fireheart and Princess arrived. Mousefur looked at Princess in confusion

"Who are you?" she asked quietly. Princesss licked her head gently.

"I'm Fireheart and Scourgeclaw's sister Princess." She meowed softly "its okay, I'm here to help you, I've just had kits myself." Scourgeclaw rejoined his mates' side and calmly nudged her.

"Do you think you can reach those tree roots over there it would be a safer place to have the kits." He meowed gently.

"You'll have to help me over there I don't think I can get there on my own." She replied though another wave of pain. Slowly the three siblings helped the queen reach the roots. Princess and Scourgeclaw were beside Mousefur, while Fireheart kept watch.

"A soon as you feel another wave of pain push through it Mousefur." Princess meowed gently. Mousefur nodded and suddenly she began to push. Princess meowed in encouragement as a bundle dropped to her feet and she began to lick it clean.

"It's a she-kit." Princess purred happily, Fireheart stuck his head in and Princess called him over to take the kit from her. "There's another in there, just do what you did before and push." Princess meowed as she gently touched her stomach feeling for kits.

It wasn't long before a second bundle joined the first and Princess began cleaning this bundle with just as much vigor as she had the first.

"It's another she-kit and they're both healthy." She purred softly gently bring the kit over to Mousefur and beckoning Fireheart to do the same. Scourgeclaw gently nuzzled Mousefur, happy that the ordeal was over and finally allowed him to see his kits.

His first born daughter was a tortoiseshell and white she-kit, but instead of red and black markings, they were brown and cream and his second daughter looked very much like him, except her forelegs were both white. The two kits squirmed closer to their mother, who gently licked them on their ears. Princess suddenly stood and began to leave the tree roots.

"I'll be right back." She meowed softly. Scourgeclaw and Fireheart nodded in understanding as they watched her go. Fireheart moved closer to Mousefur to get a better view of the kits.

"Their beautiful, Scourgeclaw, they'll make good warriors in the future." Fireheart purred to his brother, Scourgeclaw could only nod his head slowly. It wasn't long before Princess returned but she wasn't alone, in her jaws she carried a tiny white kit. The warriors and queen looked at her in surprise.

"Princess what are you doing?" Fireheart asked worried looking at the tiny bundle."

"I know that you're lives are centered around your clan, and that you must put them first before everything else. I know I could never be a warrior, but think my first born son can," she meowed firmly. She looked gently at Mousefur.

"I wish I had what it took to be a warrior and hunt and fight beside my brothers, but I can't, it would comfort me to have my son as a warrior fighting beside my brothers, will you take him, I can think of no other she-cat better to raise him for me." Mousefur looked into Princess' eyes and then at the tiny white bundle that was nestled net to Princess's belly. Scourgeclaw saw her eyes soften as she looked and wasn't surprised to hear her answer.

"Yes, I'll care for him and thank you for helping me deliver my kits," Mousefur purred softly. Princess carefully placed the young white tom next to the two newborn kits. Scourgeclaw heard her meowed a gentle goodbye to the tom, and to the other two warrior's and queen before heading back to her twoleg nest. Fireheart stood and start to head out of the roots.

"Wait Fireheart, before you fetch more warriors lets name the kits." Mousefur called. Scourgeclaw looked at her incredulously.

"Can't that wait till your safe in the nursery?"

"They won't be safe as long as greencough is in the nursery." She hissed, Scourgeclaw knew she was right, the makeshift den was warm, but they were still in the forest close to the Twolegplace, where twoleg's sometimes walked their dogs, so he wasn't too comfortable keeping them here but, if they were just going to name them first, then he felt no harm in waiting.

"Fine well name them first." He meowed, as he beckoned Fireheart closer. Mousefur purred looking down at her first born daughter.

"Her coat reminds me of the early morning sky, when the sun is rising, but its hidden from the clouds." Mousefur purred as she gazed fondly at the little tortoiseshell. "I think we should call her Morningkit" Scourgeclaw agreed it seemed to suit the little she-kit and he fixed his gaze on his other daughter.

"Her coat is dark like the night sky that lies between the stars." Scourgeclaw meowed gently. "The other should be named Nightkit." Mousefur purred her agreement.

"Fireheart you should name our nephew." Scourgeclaw meowed softly. Fireheart blinked greatfully and padded over to look at the soft white fur of the young tom.

"His coat will probably grow to be long and thick like a cloud, I think he should be named Cloudkit." He meowed softly. Scourgeclaw and Mousefur agreed taking in their new family. "I'll go and find some warrior's help get the kits back to camp." Fireheart meowed gently.

"Don't bother, just give me a minute and I'll be able to get back to help carry them back to camp." Mousefur meowed in determination. Scourgeclaw and Fireheart knew better than to argue and decided to let Mousefur rest.

~ **Phew okay that's the end of this chapter and Scourgeclaw's kits are here. Bet you didn't expect them to come the way they did or for Scourgeclaw to become Cloudkit's Uncle/Father. **

**Morningkit and Nightkit what do you think of them? **

**I know they totally forgot about the catmint. **

**I'll try to update sooner but I've been looking back at passed chapters and I found a few mistakes I want to correct, nothing too big just a few errors I want to go over but I wanted to finish these two chapters first.~**


	20. Chapter 20

Here's ch.20

Chapter 20

A few moments later found Mousefur with Morningkit in her jaws, Scourgeclaw with Nightkit in his jaws and Fireheart with Cloudkit in his jaws; all three carrying the kits back to camp quickly and carefully. Mousefur set a quick pace that she didn't let up on until the gorse tunnel was in sight. They were greeted by a worried Runningwind whose gaze soften as he laid eyes on the kits and gently leaned against his sister guiding her carefully to the entrance and into the safety of the camp; Fireheart and Scourgeclaw were close behind them. News had spread though the Clan that Mousefur had had her kits. Yellowfang raced out of her den to see the kits and Mousefur. She quickly looked them over then ushered them into the nursery, where the queens were making sure Mousefur's nest was extra comfortable. Mossflower glared at Mousefur for a moment, but her eyes softened when she caught sight of the kits, as Scourgeclaw and Fireheart laid them next to Mousefur's belly. Mousefur drowsily curled herself around the kits; she was exhausted after delivering them and carrying them back to camp. Mossflower looked at the kits and purred warmly.

"They're beautiful, Scourgeclaw" she murmured as she looked at the squirming bundles. "Have you named them yet?" Scourgeclaw nodded

"The tortoiseshell is Morningkit, the black one is Nightkit and the white one is Cloudkit." Scourgeclaw meowed softly. Bluekit, Birdkit and Ashkit were trying to get a look at the kits from Mossflowerr's nest.

"We wanna see them" Birdkit meowed

"Can we see them, Mossflower?" Bluekit asked. Mossflower sighed as she looked at her kits.

"Yes, but you need to be quiet, Mousefur needs to rest," the kits scrambled out of Mossflower's nest and quietly approached Mousefur and looked at her kits.

"Wow they're so small" Birdkit mewled as she looked at the kits,

"Of course their small, they were just born."Ashkit murmured

"When can we play with them?" Bluekit asked. Birdkit looked at her brother in confusion.

"Why can't we play with them tomorrow?"

"Because they're too small they need at the very least a quarter moon to grow before you can play with them." Mossflower told her kits. "If you're good when the time comes I'll let you show them around camp."

"I'm glad there are two she-kits, there are too many toms in the nursery." Birdkit complained.

"Hey," Bluekit and Ashkit said at the same time, before they started to chase Birdkit around the nursery. Mossflower shook her head in amusement.

"I'm just glad their acting more like themselves again, they've been so somber lately," she sighed as she watched her kits play. Scourgeclaw stood abruptly and was quickly headed for the nursery entrance. "Where are you going so suddenly?" Mossflower asked in suspicion

"Fireheart and I were collecting catmint for Yellowfang, before we heard Mousefur, in the forest. We need to get it before the frost kills the leaves." Scourgeclaw meowed quickly charging out of the nursery to find Fireheart. He spotted the fiery warrior with Tigerclaw. As he approached he could make out that Tigerclaw wanted to know if Fireheart knew where Graystripe was going. He heard Fireheart tell the dark warrior that he didn't know where Graystripe was heading off to everyday.

"Well if you see him tell him he is confined to Yellowfang's own den we need to stop the illness from spreading." Tigerclaw growled as he stared fiercely into Fireheart's eyes. "And don't go near Bluestar, she may still be contagious and I don't need healthy warriors getting sick."

"Yes Tigerclaw, can I go now?" asked Fireheart evenly.

"Very well" Tigerclaw meowed and stalked away from Fireheart, glancing briefly at Scourgeclaw as he passed the black warrior. Scourgeclaw felt the fur on his spine rise as the deputy passed him. He strolled up to Fireheart and quickly got his attention.

"Fireheart, we forgot the catmint." Scourgeclaw meowed quickly. Fireheart's eyes widened as he stared at his brother's icy blue gaze. The two turned toward the gorse tunnel starting to head out when they were stopped by Whitestorm.

"Where are the two of you going in such a hurry?" Whitestorm asked curiously. Scourgeclaw could barely keep himself from rolling his eyes in irritation at being questioned but shook it off quickly letting Fireheart answer for the both of them.

"We left the catmint we were collecting for Yellowfang in the forest, while we were helping Mousefur." Fireheart explained quickly, looking anxious to get out in the forest. Whitestorm blinked in understanding.

"Good thinking, well need all the help we can get to fight off this illness." Whitestorm agreed, letting the two raced off into the forest to gather the catmint.

When they returned to camp, they headed straight for Yellowfang's den with the catmint they had left; some of the catmint they had buried had blackened during the time they were away, so they weren't messing around with the surviving catmint. Fireheart put down his catmint and called inside for Yellowfang, who stuck her head out of the den.

"More catmint, good will need it now that Patchpelt has greencough."She meowed and pointed her tail in a nest of bracken a little further back in her den, nearby was Swiftpaw looking just as bad as the elder tom.

"How is Cinderpaw doing?" Fireheart asked worriedly. Scourgeclaw could see a flicker of pain in Fireheart's eyes as he thought of his injured apprentice. Scourgeclaw inwardly hissed as he thought of how the usually lively apprentice ended up in such a state. His mind wondered back to the conversation he, Fireheart and Princess had discussed earlier regarding whether or not Cinderpaw's accident had really been an accident or a trap set by Tigerclaw for Bluestar. Both she-cats had similar pelt colors, while Bluestar's pelt had more of a blue tint; they were both gray she-cats. He figured that if Tigerclaw wasn't paying close enough attention to who was running toward the Thunderpath then he wouldn't notice the difference in pelt color or size difference, but what made Scourgeclaw really curious is whether Tigerclaw would have stopped Cinderpaw if he had known it was her? Scourgeclaw highly doubted it. He could tell that Tigerclaw wasn't keen on him and Fireheart training apprentices and figured the tom would have let her get hurt anyway if he thought it might make Fireheart look bad. Scourgeclaw shook these thoughts from his mind as his eye caught a nest nearby. He turned his attention toward it and saw Fernkit, lying in the nest. The poor she-kit looked ill but not as bad as he was expecting.

"Fernkit's been doing much better since I gave her a little catmint, it seems to have done her good. I only hope I can say the same for her brother." Yellowfang pointed her tail at another nest a little further down from Fernkit, in side lay a small smoky gray tom that looked very ill. Scourgeclaw fixed his icy gaze on the tom a moment before turning to look at Yellowfang.

"Will he die?" Scourgeclaw asked emotionlessly. Yellowfang closed her eyes and sighed touching her tail to his shoulder. Scourgeclaw tore his gaze from the sickly kit to look at Fireheart who was apologizing softly to Frostfur, who had just entered Yellowfang's den. Frostfur murmured something to Fireheart as she passed him heading for Cinderpaw's nest. Scourgeclaw watched her pass as he followed Fireheart out of the medicine den. They trotted side by side into the center of the camp, only separating as Scourgeclaw padded off to guard the nursery, and Fireheart headed toward the warriors' den where Graystripe was eating.

Runningwind greeted Scourgeclaw as he approached the nursery. The swift tabby tom had been guarding the nursery for Scourgeclaw after Scourgeclaw went to gather the catmint. Scourgeclaw meowed a greeting back, as he relieved Runningwind of the duty. Runningwind told him that a few cats had come to see the kits and Whitestorm was currently visiting Mousefur and her kits. Scourgeclaw dipped his head to Runningwind as he walked off. Scourgeclaw sat regally, with his head high and eyes sharp as he watched the movement in the camp. A few minutes later Whitestorm emerged from the nursery with a warm expression.

"Their beautiful kits Scourgeclaw, I'm sure they'll be strong warriors." The white tom purred. Scourgeclaw thanked him and watched the white warrior headed off to the warriors' den in silence.

In the days that followed much had happened in ThunderClan, The Clan had been finding traces of ShadowClan scent in their territory, which made the Clan anxious about an attack from them, and Bluestar had recovered from Greencough, but the strangest occurrence had happened in the medicine cat's den. Brindleface's son Smokekit had gone missing. The queen had gone into Yellowfang's den to check on him, as Fernkit had already recovered from her bout with greencough and had returned to the nursery with Ashkit, and when she looked into his nest he was gone. The Clan had searched everywhere but none had seen the young tom and the Clan ruled him dead since the last time they had seen the small kit he had been battling greencough. The queens did their best to comfort Brindleface during the loss of Smokekit.

Scourgeclaw entered the camp returning from a successful hunt with his apprentice Falconpaw. He carried a fat squirrel in his jaws, and Falconpaw had caught a mouse, a shrew and a vole. Scourgeclaw was pleased with his apprentice, he was certain that his apprentice would be made a warrior soon. Falconpaw was already ahead of his brother Swiftpaw and since Swiftpaw had greencough and wasn't training he was falling even further behind his brother.

When they returned to camp, were surprised to see the Clan gathered around the clearing in a meeting. He deposited the squirrel in the small fresh-kill pile and padded up to Fireheart to see what was going on. He was surprised to see him sitting next to Sandpaw talking quietly with the pale ginger she-cat.

"What's going on?" he asked evenly. Fireheart opened his mouth to speak, but Sandpaw beat him to it.

"Bluestar's planning a raid on RiverClan," Sandpaw purred excitedly. Scourgeclaw looked at Fireheart in surprise.

"The River is frozen right now, we told Bluestar and she might be getting ready for an attack." Fireheart answered his brother's questioning stare. "Graystripe told the Clan that the ice might thaw before we can strike so the senior warriors are discussing it with Bluestar. Scourgeclaw was about to speak when he was cut off by Bluestar.

"Cats of ThunderClan, Willowpelt agrees with Graystripe that there is a thaw on the way." She called from her place upon the Highrock. Scourgeclaw glanced over at Graystripe who had a smug look on his face as the tom looked at Fireheart. "So we shall attack at once." Scourgeclaw felt a weird sense of satisfaction at seeing Graystripe's proud triumphant look turn into a look of sheer horror at the news. 'This is exactly why relationships between different clan cats is forbidden.'

"Five cats will make this raid. Tigerclaw will lead. I won't be going on this raid there is still the risk of ShadowClan attacking the camp. Darkstripe, Willowpelt and Longtail are going" Bluestar meowed. "Who else wants to join this raid?"

"I'd like to go." Fireheart spoke up, Scourgeclaw looked into Fireheart's eyes but Fireheart gave nothing away about what he was feeling. Bluestar's eyes glowed as she looked at Fireheart.

"Yes thank you Fireheart, you may join the patrol" Bluestar answered. "There is no time to lose, I can smell the warm winds now, Go quickly!" Tigerclaw, Willowpelt, Darkstripe, Longtail and Fireheart charged out of the camp, heading for RiverClan territory. Scourgeclaw glanced at Graystripe and saw him staring angrily after the raiding party. Scourgeclaw was tempted to strike the tom on the head with his claws unsheathed to see if he could knock sense into his head, but decided not to. Instead he padded over to the fresh-kill pile and pulled out vole and headed toward the nursery.

Mossflower looked up from her nest as she saw Scourgeclaw enter the nursery. He gave a gentle glance to Brindleface, who gave him one in return, that had a little sadness mixed in. She watched him greet the other queens, before he headed for her own nest and Mousefur's nest. She glanced over at her kits who were currently playing with Ashkit and Fernkit, they were careful not to play too rough with Fernkit since she was still weak from her exposure to greencough. Mousefur was glad the kits were dealing with Smokekit's disappearance/death so well, Brindleface was still numb with grief over the loss of her son. Mossflower couldn't imagine what it must feel like to lose a kit and she shuddered at the thought of losing either of her kits. Her mind once again wondered back to Bluestar and how her mother felt when she had given her up. 'She must have felt horrible.' She thought briefly, and she gained a new sense of respect for Bluestar. She glanced over at Mousefur's nest and saw the dusky brown queen speaking softly with Scourgeclaw as he looked over their kits. She wondered how Scourgeclaw felt about being a father, and how the tom was handling it. As she looked closely at Scourgeclaw's face she noticed that his face was trained into a emotionless mask, but she was sure she saw a flicker of affection in his eyes as he looked at his kits. Mossflower purred softly as she spied a look at the kits, they were growing quickly and it wouldn't be long until they were big enough to play with the other kits. Mossflower padded over to join Mousefur and Scourgeclaw's conversation.

The three talked quietly for a while commenting on each other's kits and the raid that was happening in RiverClan. Suddenly they heard a loud noise from just outside the nursery that sounded like cats fighting. Scourgeclaw took off out the nursery and immediately he his eyes went to a tumbling ball of fiery ginger and gray fur. Bluestar yowled for them to stop, and then called Fireheart into her den. Scourgeclaw glared venomously at Graystripe and was tempted to go tell Bluestar Graystripe's secret. He tore his gaze away from Graystripe to give Tigerclaw an ice cold baleful glare as the deputy wore a look of pure amusement on his face.

Scourgeclaw waited with his back rigid for Fireheart to emerge from Bluestar's den, planning on giving his brother a little verbal lashing. When Fireheart did appear he had a fierce look in his gaze as though he wanted to tear something apart, Scourgeclaw then decided to skip the verbal lashing and instead ask his brother about the fight.

"Was that about, what I think it was about?" Scourgeclaw asked fixing his icy blue gaze into Fireheart's fierce unflinching emerald gaze. Fireheart gave only a sharp nod. "I told you to let him make his own mistakes"

"I don't care anymore, if Graystripe wants to act like, rogue I'll let him." Fireheart hissed under his breath as he headed for the warriors' den. Scourgeclaw followed after him and made sure to put himself in the nest between Graystripe and Fireheart to keep them separated. Even though he was disgusted by Graystripe's behavior, he couldn't be more pleased by Fireheart's attitude. It will make it easier to convince Fireheart to join him in his plans. Scourgeclaw went to sleep feeling more confident about the future.

Many days had passed since Graystripe and Fireheart's fight that Scourgeclaw knew was because of a certain RiverClan she-cat. It was the night of the full moon, which meant the gathering would be happening and Scourgeclaw knew this one would be interesting, since ShadowClan had been scented hunting in their territory and the fact that WindClan would be present for this gathering. He was shaken from his thoughts by something messing with his tail. He turned around sharply to see Nightkit pawing at his swishing tail trying to pin it beneath her paws.

"Nightkit, what are you doing out of the nursery?" he asked calmly, as he looked down at his daughter, he couldn't help but see a resemblance of himself in her. Nightkit looked up at Scourgeclaw with wide forest green eyes.

"I just wanted to explore a little, Mousefur said we could as soon as she was finished grooming us." Nightkit spoke with a soft gentle voice. Scourgeclaw was quick to catch the 'we' in her statement and wasn't surprised to see Morningkit padding out of the nursery with Cloudkit close behind her. They both quickly made their way over to Scourgeclaw. Morningkit rubbed her cheeks against Scourgeclaw's foreleg in greeting, while Cloudkit amused himself the same way Nightkit was earlier. Scourgeclaw immediately had a feeling of uneasiness take over as he was surrounded by his kits and for the first time in a long while, he felt a quiver of fear. Scourgeclaw had never played with his siblings as a kit, or spent much time with them, he wasn't sure about how to interact with them. It had been easier with Fireheart when he was still a kit because he was very close to becoming an apprentice. His kits were very young and would reach their first moon in a few days, he was nervous about being around them while they were still so young. He was shaken from his grim thoughts by Birdkit and Bluekit as they bounded out of the nursery.

"Come you guys, we're going to the elder's den, follow me." Bluekit meowed heading for the elder's den. Cloudkit meowed a quick goodbye to Scourgeclaw before falling into place behind Bluekit. Morningkit purred a gentle goodbye to Scourgeclaw and padded up to Birdkit, the two were talking quietly. Nightkit hesitated a moment, then stood up to follow the others. She had only taken a few steps forward before she turned around to look at Scourgeclaw.

"Bye Scourgeclaw, see you later." She mewled softly, then turned back to follow her kin to the elders' den. Scourgeclaw watched them go and was a little surprised by how much Bluekit resembled his namesake as he led the other kits through the camp ground toward the elder's den. He turned and looked around the clearing and once more saw Fireheart talking to Sandpaw. He knew that the two usually didn't get along, but recently Sandpaw had been rather nice to Fireheart and he wondered why they were getting close to eachother. He could only hope that the pale ginger she-cat wouldn't ruin his plans for Fireheart. Scourgeclaw turned to see Mossflower emerge from the nursery heading in his direction.

"So are you attending the gathering tonight?" she asked curiously. Scourgeclaw nodded slowly and Mossflower purred in response. "Good because I'm coming to."

"You're leaving your kits?" Mossflower nodded slowly.

"Yeah they'll be fine; Mousefur will be watching them so it should be fine." As she spoke Mousefur, emerged from the nursery heading for the elders' den, it was clear she was going to keep a close eye on the kits with the elders. Fireheart came up to the two looking anxious to go to the gathering.

"Are the two of you going to the gathering tonight?" Fireheart asked quietly.

"Yes we both are, it'll be nice to attend the gathering again," purred Mossflower as she walked toward the fresh-kill pile, with Fireheart trailing behind her. Scourgeclaw was about to follow when he saw Brindleface emerge from the nursery, he stopped and padded up to the tabby queen.

"How are you doing?" Scourgeclaw asked gently pressing his pelt against her soft pelt. She leaned into his warmth a little before answering.

"I'm better now, but it still hurts to think about him." Brindleface answered as she walked alongside Scourgeclaw. Mossflower looked over at the two cats with a little confusion.

"Since when has Scourgeclaw been so close to Brindleface?" she asked Fireheart, who looked over at the two in surprise.

"I don't know, I mean he's always been nice to her, but I never really known them to be close to one another." Fireheart remarked as he watched the two approach the fresh-kill pile. They each picked out their own piece of prey and settled a little away to eat the prey. "Maybe he's just being nice to her since she is still dealing with Smokekit's death."

"I suppose," Mossflower murmured but she was unsure, she shook these thoughts from her head deciding it would be better to focus on the gathering that they were about to have. "What do you think will happen during this gathering? ShadowClan has to explain their actions."

"Yes we don't need them stealing our prey, and it doesn't make sense why they want our prey when they have fewer mouths to feed since Brokenstar is gone." Fireheart pointed out. Mossflower shrugged in return it would be an interesting gathering. They were shaken from their thoughts by Bluestar as she called the cats chosen for the gathering to gather at the entrance to the gorse tunnel. Within moments they were bounding off toward fourtrees with Bluestar and Tigerclaw in the lead.

(Okay I'm stopping the chapter here; the gathering will be in the next chapter

Review and tell me about the chapter)


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry I took forever to get this chapter up,

**Chickenleg719** asked me if I was pursuing a relationship between Scourgeclaw and Brindleface…?

Without giving too much away (hopefully) there is a reason for their closeness. I will say they are friends and Scourgeclaw respects her, but there is another reason. That is all I will say. (Remember Brindeface is still grieving and Cloudtail won't be able to soften the blow of her losing her third kit). I'm not reavealing the reason just yet I think it will come in the next Ch.

**Zozosisi159** I haven't forgotten your Question I answered it at the bottom of the Chapter because the answer is kind of long.

I hope I've answered everyone's questions

Chapter 21

Mossflower charged down the slope with the other warriors as they reached Fourtrees. She glanced around the clearing and found that WindClan were the only ones present at the gathering currently. Mossflower saw a black and white tom, with a long tail, approach Bluestar and give her a respectable nod. 'That must be Tallstar,' she thought to herself as remembered the description that Fireheart had given her of the WindClan leader. She looked around and saw Fireheart talking to a brown tabby tom and decided to introduce herself to him.

"Hello Fireheart, who is this?" Mossflower asked while giving the tom a polite look.

"This is Onewhisker, he was with me and Graystripe when RiverClan attacked us." Fireheart explained. He turned to Onewhisker and pointed to Mossflower with his tail. "Onewhisker this is Mossflower, she is one of our queens in ThunderClan." Onewhisker gave Mossflower a polite nod and meowed a greeting to her.

"It's nice to meet you Mossflower, are your kits young?" asked Onewhisker.

"Yes their still young, they won't be apprentices for another few moons," purred Mossflower as she thought of her kits.

"Speaking of kits, how is Morningflower and her kit?" asked Fireheart, Mossflower remembered Fireheart telling her about the queen and her kit, and how he had to help the poor queen carry her kit back to the WindClan camp. While Onewhisker spoke to Fireheart about Morningflower, Mossflower turned her attention to the fresh scents of ShadowClan and RiverClan approaching. 'I wonder how they'll respond to WindClan being here, they certainly didn't want them around before.' She thought to herself as she watched the two Clans make their way into the clearing. Mossflower shivered a little happy that the gathering was coming along, it was cold this night. She looked around for Scourgeclaw and saw him talking to a mottled dark brown tom, who she believed was a WindClan warrior from the looks of him. She also noticed that Brindleface was with him, which was starting to become a common sight that she was seeing in ThunderClan. She knew that Scourgeclaw was close to Brindleface, and that the pair had gotten closer since Smokekit's disappearance. Mossflower's eye caught the gaze of a familiar RiverClan tom, she recognized him as Stonefur. She waved to him with her tail and He nodded to her in acknowledgement. 'There is definitely tension between the clans' she thought worriedly. She watched the leaders climb onto the Great Rock. She saw a black tom with a twisted paw speak to Fireheart 'That must be Deadfoot the WindClan deputy, he must have respect for Fireheart' she thought briefly.

Scourgeclaw glanced around the clearing and saw among the RiverClan cats, he saw Silverstream, and briefly wondered if she was going to sneak off with Graystripe. Moments later Bluestar's yowl broke across the clearing calling for the gathering to start, Scourgeclaw led Brindleface to sit behind Mossflower and Fireheart as the gathering started. Bluestar stepped forward and spoke first.

"RiverClan has been scented around Sunningrocks, Sunningrocks belong to ThunderClan" Bluestar started angrily. Crookedstar turned and met Bluestar's eyes with a steady cold gaze.

"Perhaps you have forgotten that, a ThunderClan warrior killed one of my warriors who was defending his territory." He growled in reply.

"There wasn't any need to defend your territory, my warrior's weren't hunting there, they were going home after finding WindClan. We all agreed to that mission and by the warrior code they shouldn't have been attacked." Bluestar answered.

"You speak of the code, but what of the ThunderClan warrior you send to spy on my clan?" spat Crookedstar. Bluestar looked surprised.

"A warrior?" she echoed. "Have you seen this warrior?"

"No," hissed Crookedstar "But his scent has been found on our territory often enough that it won't be long till we do find him." Scourgeclaw noticed Fireheart look over in Graystripe's direction in alarm. 'Hmm I suppose this means that Graystripe needs to be smarter about whom he spends time with.' He thought briefly before turning his attention back to the Great Rock.

A sudden growl turned his attention from the Great Rock over to Tigerclaw, who had stood to his paws to speak.

"We have scented a ShadowClan patrol in our territory also, and it's always the same warriors." The dark tabby growled. Nightstar looked down on Tigerclaw with an indignant look on his face.

"None, of my clan have been in your territory; you have been smelling rogues, who we have also smelt in our territory." Tallstar twitched his tail uncertainly before he spoke up.

"We too have found strange scents in our territory that appear to belong to ShadowClan," he meowed calmly.

"That proves it RiverClan and ShadowClan have united against us," yowled Tigerclaw.

"I think it is you and WindClan that have formed an alliance," hissed Crookedstar. "That's why you brought them back so you and they can take charge of the forest." Tallstar hissed in response, to Crookedstar's accusation.

"We didn't return to do that and you know it," spat Tallstar, "We had every right to return to our rightful home."

"Then why have we found strange warrior scents in our territory?" Crookedstar growled.

"It isn't anyone from WindClan, we've kept to our own hunting grounds for these past moons, it must be rogues as Nightstar says." Spoke Tallstar,

"But that would be a convenient excuse to invade our territories wouldn't it?" murmured Bluestar. She was glaring fiercely at the ShadowClan and RiverClan leaders. The two leaders were arching their backs and raising their hackles. Mossflower stared on in horror and wondered if the leaders would start to fight during the gathering. Suddenly a shadow covered the area and as Mossflower looked up, she saw that a cloud had covered the moon. They were blanketed in darkness.

"StarClan has sent us darkness," Yowled Haiftail.

"StarClan is unhappy with us. These meetings are supposed to be peaceful." Yowled Runningnose in agreement. Yellowfang spoke suddenly.

"He is right we shouldn't be fighting, we should be focusing on keeping our Clans safe." She yowled. Tallstar spoke up from the top of the Great Rock; his silhouette could be seen from the top of the Great Rock.

"StarClan has ended this meeting, WindClan we leave" he called into the darkness. Scourgeclaw looked around seeing cats starting to leave the clearing.

"ThunderClan, Come" called Bluestar, she could barely be seen in the darkness as she leaped down off the Great Rock. Scourgeclaw felt a pelt brush up against him and could make out a little of Mossflower's pelt.

"That was interesting," he murmured to her. He could almost feel her incredulous stare on his pelt as the moved through the forest.

"Interesting? They were ready to fight each other over these supposed rogues that are in the territory." she growled low in his ear. "It makes more sense to believe they are ShadowClan cats, we know what ShadowClan cats smell like."

"I suppose so" Scourgeclaw murmured cryptically. Mossflower gave him a curious stare. Scourgeclaw ignored her a moment to glance back at his brother who was talking with Graystripe. 'Probably about Silverstream, I'm not surprised that RiverClan have noticed it's the same cat coming in their territory.' He thought as he watched Graystripe huff angrily and race away from Fireheart. He saw his brother's ears and tail droop slightly as he watched the gray warrior race ahead. Fireheart picked up his pace and matched his stride with Mossflower and Scourgeclaw.

Fireheart was sitting outside the nursery with Scourgeclaw's kits watching as they batted around a ball of moss. When they had returned to camp Bluestar had called a meeting to explain what had happened and told the Clan that it was possible that RiverClan and ShadowClan were uniting against them. Bluestar had ordered more patrols for the RiverClan and ShadowClan borders and ordered that at least three warriors be in the camp at all times. Fireheart sighed as he waited for the dawn patrol to return, and briefly wondered if the two clans were uniting against ThunderClan and WindClan. He was shaken from his thoughts as the ball of moss landed in front of his paws. He purred as Nightkit came over to get it and he couldn't help but look at the resemblance between her and her father Scourgeclaw, with the exception of her two white forelegs and her forest green eyes she looked a lot like his brother. Thinking of his brother suddenly made him feel strange as he thought of how secretive his brother was acting, it was obvious to him that Scourgeclaw knew something about Tigerclaw that Fireheart himself hadn't discovered yet and had at some point had told Bluestar about it and she hadn't believed him. He wondered what his brother had told her or if he had told her anything at all.

Also it seemed his brother would disappear for a while but would always come back with prey and his coat well groomed. It eerily reminded him of Graystripe's meetings with Silverstream and their own meetings with Princess and he briefly wondered if Scourgeclaw was sneaking off to see Princess. He remembered that Scourgeclaw had never had a good experience with his own littermates and wondered if he was just visiting Princess so they could have a connection with each other.

The other strange behavior occurred whenever he was around Brindleface the queen seemed less distressed whenever Scourgeclaw came and talked to her and wondered what was going on between the two of them, he knew that Brindleface and Scourgeclaw were friends but the two seemed to have grown closer after Smokekit's death. Fireheart was removed from his thoughts as he saw his brother emerge from the warriors' den.

Scourgeclaw nodded a greeting to his brother as he came over to sit beside him. His kits came over to him rubbing their heads against his pelt purring in delight. He watched as they tossed a ball of moss back and forth between each other, frozen leaves crushing under their paws. He looked away from his kits as he saw Fireheart rise to his paws and head for the gorse tunnel, he glanced up at the sky and realized that it was getting close to sunhigh and that it was time to meet Whitestorm and Sandpaw for the sunhigh patrol. He meowed a quiet goodbye to his kits, which was returned to him, before following Fireheart to the gorse tunnel. When they arrived Sandpaw was waiting for them at the foot of the slope and she meowed a greeting to the two as they approached and they waved their tails in greeting , Whitestorm arrived a little after Scourgeclaw and Fireheart , emerging from the gorse tunnel.

"Is the dawn patrol here yet?" Whitestorm meowed, before anyone could answer, they heard the rustle of the undergrowth above them. Runningwind, Willowpelt, Darkstripe and Dustpaw emerged from out of the bushes and made their way down the slope to the awaiting patrol.

"We've checked the RiverClan border there was no sign of any hunting parties." Willowpelt reported to Whitestorm.

"Good, then we'll check the ShadowClan border," Whitestorm replied turning to his patrol he meowed a quick. "Let's go." He flicked his tail and took off into the bracken. Scourgeclaw was right behind him; Fireheart was a tail length behind him with Sandpaw right behind Fireheart. They climbed as quickly as they could out of the ravine and into the forest.

The patrol had not travelled very far into their territory when Scourgeclaw had caught familiar scent that belonged to ShadowClan and he alerted the patrol.

"ShadowClan,"Scourgeclaw hissed. The patrol stopped to take in the scent.

"I can't believe they would come back to our territory so soon." murmured Sandpaw, Whitestorm's eyes were glittering with unspoken fury.

"I had hoped that Nightstar was an honorable cat, but I see I was wrong, this scent is recent." He growled low. Scourgeclaw watched as Fireheart pushed his way through a thick pile of bracken and emerged moments later with a mouthful of rabbit bones and deposited them at Whitestorm's paws. Whitestorm stared furiously at the bones. "The warriors who left these want us to know they have been hunting here, we need to inform Bluestar of this."

"Will she send a patrol against ShadowClan?" asked Fireheart curiously.

"She should and I'll lead it myself if she'll let me" growled the great white warrior and with that said he snatched up the rabbit bones in his own jaws and twitched his tail as a signal to follow him as he furiously took off for camp, with the rest of the patrol at his heels

"Bluestar," called Whitestorm as he placed the bones on the ground. Tigerclaw came up to see what had enraged the white warrior.

After hearing Whitestorm's report of what had occurred during their patrol; Tigerclaw decided to send an attack patrol after ShadowClan that consisted of Whitestorm, Goldenclaw, Darkstripe, Willowpelt, Runningwind and himself, leaving Fireheart and Scourgeclaw to defend the camp. Scourgeclaw hissed in frustration having to be left behind to guard the camp, and swished his tail in agitation. He noticed that Fireheart seemed antsy and had sent Sandpaw running into the apprentice den.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously as his brother inquired Frostfur about Bluestar's patrol.

"We are the only warriors in camp right now there are supposed to be at least three here in the camp." Fireheart explained, before he could speak any further, he heard Sandpaw call from the other side of the clearing.

"Dustpaw's sleeping, so is Brackenpaw and Falconpaw" Sandpaw reported as she came to stand beside Fireheart. Yellowfang came out of her den to inspect the bones and Scourgeclaw watched curiously as she viciously recoiled from them.

"Brokenstar," she hissed venomously. Fireheart stared at her in alarm

"Are you sure?" he asked as he went back over to the bones to inspect them again. Yellowfang nodded.

"Yes I am sure, I would know his scent anywhere." She growled. "This was done by Brokenstar not ShadowClan."Scourgeclaw felt the fur along his spine begin to rise as he started to understand the implications of what was occurring.

"You think this was a trap to lure the warriors away from camp?" he asked. Sandpaw and Fireheart looked at Scourgeclaw in alarm, while Yellowfang wore a grave look on her face.

"I believe so, Tigerclaw must be stopped, or innocent blood will be spilt for no reason." Scourgeclaw sighed as he looked around the camp.

"We can't afford to send anyone, if the camp is attacked while we're gone…"he trailed off letting the others fill in the blanks. Fireheart stood up suddenly and called for Brackenpaw. The golden brown apprentice came racing from the apprentice den and over to the flame-furred warrior. Fireheart quickly explained that he needed Brackenpaw to find Tigerclaw and stop him, warning him he might have to cross the Thunderpath to do so, before sending him out of the camp. Next he watched Fireheart leap to the top of the highrock and call for a meeting. Scourgeclaw stared at him with great surprise as all the cats left in camp, the queens, apprentices and elders, came out to see what was happening. Falconpaw came to sit beside him. The Clan stared up at him in bewilderment. One-eye spoke what was on everyone's mind.

"What are you doing up there and what is going on?" she demanded, and then Fireheart began to speak.

"ThunderClan, Brokenstar has returned, we must be ready for him to attack," The Clan looked horrified as he spoke. "All the warriors except for me and Scourgeclaw are currently out of camp. Elders and kits should get in the nursery; the rest of us should prepare to fight..."

Suddenly a fierce yowl broke into the clearing from the direction of the camp entrance. Scourgeclaw turned in that direction and saw the familiar dark tabby pelt of Brokenstar, which now looked mangy and matted and a few more mangy looking warriors came prowling in after Brokenstar. The former ShadowClan leader looked around the camp looking pleased.

"So you two are the only ones left, this should be easy," he hissed menacingly. Yellowfang, Sandpaw, Dustpaw and Falconpaw lined up beside Scourgeclaw in front of the queens in a defensive row. The queens lined up behind them as the elder's herded the kits back into the nursery getting in with them. Brindleface closed the entrance to the nursery by pulling the brambles over the entrance; she then joined her spot in the lineup. Fireheart leaped down from the highrock to stand beside Yellowfang.

"You won't win this fight Brokenstar, we've fought in the past and you will lose again." hissed Fireheart

"Not likely," he spat, "I still have more lives than you."

"Any life from ThunderClan is worth more than yours," Fireheart hissed before yowling out a battle cry that had the clearing full of screeching cats.

Mossflower hissed fiercely as she battered an unfamiliar to with her claws, Mousefur was next to her sinking her teeth into the tom's flank. He yowled twisting his body trying to break free of the two fierce queens. He was suddenly able to wriggle free and dashed fiercely for the camp entrance. She noticed Frostfur being particularly vicious to a rogue she was fighting, Mossflower could understand her rage, these were the cats who had stolen her kits, it was only fair that the white queen be allowed to exact her vengeance on the cats responsible. Mossflower looked around for any other rogues, she spotted Scourgeclaw who was staring coldly at a large white tom, who seemed to be mocking him, before she could move to assist Scourgeclaw, she saw the white tom go down and lay unmoving, his throat slit open with blood oozing onto the floor of the clearing, she looked at Scourgeclaw and saw his single white paw covered in blood, she stared in horror at the realization that he had killed the tom with a single swipe of his paw. She looked around the clearing to see if anyone else had seen what she had. She caught a glimpse of Falconpaw looking in his direction and she thought she may have seen Yellowfang, but both had been momentary glimpses. She shook herself trying to rid herself of the images that she had seen returning her focus to the battle. She was surprised to see Graystripe as he killed a battle-scarred tom that apparently Fireheart had been fighting. 'I hope this means their friends again' she thought briefly. She saw Falconpaw fighting as fiercely as a warrior sending the last rogue in the clearing yowling and screeching in fear and pain out of the camp.

An eerie silence took over then and Mossflower looked around at the other ThunderClan cats, they were all covered in scratches and bite marks, but none looked fatal and for that she was grateful, none of the Clan had died this time. She felt a warm pelt brush her side and realized it was Scourgeclaw. For the moment she let the images of what she had seen him do fade away from her and pressed her muzzle into his flank, letting the fury of battle leave her body as she took in his familiar scent. She looked around for Fireheart and saw he wasn't anywhere in the clearing, neither was Yellowfang, she started to look around for him when she saw him emerge from Yellowfang's den, she watched as he walked over to Dustpaw giving him instructions then turned to speak with Graystripe briefly then started over to them. He buried his nose in her fur and she briskly licked his ear calming him.

"Brokenstar's blind now, Yellowfang is treating him." He murmured into her fur. She stared at him in shock and suspected that Scourgeclaw was doing the same. Before she could question him, Bluestar and her patrol came barreling into the clearing, she looked around in horror at the clearing covered in blood and fur, Mossflower saw her look at the two bodies of the rogues and looked over at Scourgeclaw and Fireheart.

"Brokenstar attacked I assume?" she asked calmly. Fireheart nodded to her. "Is he dead?"

"No, he's been blinded, Yellowfang is seeing to his injuries, Dustpaw is guarding them." He meowed.

"Is anyone in camp badly injured?" she asked looking over at the rest of the Clan. They shook their heads " Good, and the rest of the rogues?"

"Gone and not likely to come back," Mossflower hissed as she snuck glanced at Scourgeclaw. Bluestar nodded in acceptance.

"Sandpaw, Swiftpaw and Falconpaw take these bodies out into the forest to be buried, Longtail relieve Dustpaw and send him to help them." Longtail nodded and raced into Yellowfang's den; moments later Dustpaw camp out of Yellowfang's den helping Falconpaw drag the white rogue's body out of the clearing. "Are the elders alright?"

"They're in the nursery with the kits," he meowed, seconds after he spoke the nursery entrance was opened and the elders and kits emerged from the entrance. Bluekit and Birdkit raced over to Mossflower looking around the camp in bewilderment she bent down and gently licked their heads. Nightkit, Morningkit and Cloudkit bounded over to Scourgeclaw, burying their faces in his fur. She watched as he wrapped his tail around the kits. Mossflower looked around for Mousefur and saw she wasn't anywhere in the clearing. 'Where is she? Why would she leave her kits like this?' she thought briefly. She was distracted from her thoughts while listening to Fireheart and Scourgeclaw explain what had happened, where Tigerclaw was and why they had sent Brackenpaw out on his own to retrieve him. As Bluestar was praising Fireheart and Scourgeclaw for their actions, she heard a chorus of paws in the gorse tunnel. Tigerclaw and his patrol emerged with Brackenpaw in tow; Runningwind broke away from the patrol to race to Mossflower's side.

"Are you alright?" he murmured softly as he buried his muzzle in her coat, checking her for fatal injuries. She purred softly.

"I'm fine and so are the kits," she answered, she caught sight of a dusky brown pelt entering the camp and blinked in surprise. 'What was she doing?' she thought to herself as she watched Mousefur walk up and report something to Bluestar, Bluestar nodded in acknowledgement and dismissed her. Mousefur turned and bounded over to her and Runningwind.

"Are you and your kits alright?" Mousefur asked, Mossflower looked at her with a little confusion. 'Shouldn't she be concerned with her own kits?' she thought briefly.

"They're fine, are your kits okay?" Runningwind asked, Mousefur looked at him with brief confusion clouding her gaze and suddenly a look of clarity covered her face and she looked around the clearing spotting Scourgeclaw and their kits a few tail-lengths away she padded up to them, Mossflower watched as the kits came up to Mousefur squealing in happiness. 'That was strange she thought briefly.'

As the sun began to set later on in the evening, Scourgeclaw lay beside his brother, tending to his wounds, Scourgeclaw hadn't received many scratches, but his brother had had a rougher fight. He looked up as he heard paw steps coming from the tunnel, briefly hoping it was Tigerclaw's hunting patrol, unfortunately it was the apprentices returning from burying the rogues. He saw Dustpaw and Falconpaw start to head for the apprentice den, he stopped them with a flick of his paw and walked purposefully over to where Bluestar and Whitestorm were in front of the HighRock, Falconpaw followed immediately, while Dustpaw hesitated. Fireheart who understood what his brother was up to, beckoned Dustpaw with his tail and followed after Scourgeclaw. Bluestar listened to the apprentices report and sent Swiftpaw to his nest.

"Bluestar, Sandpaw, Dustpaw and Falconpaw fought like warriors to protect the camp from Brokentail, I don't know what we would of done without their strength and courage."Fireheart meowed. Whitestorm purred in amusement at Sandpaw's shyness and Bluestar listened in acknowledgement. She saw that Tigerclaw's patrol had returned with plenty of fresh-kill, she turned her attention to the three apprentices.

"It makes me proud to know we have such strong warriors." She meowed "I believe it is time you each took your warrior names."

"We should have the ceremony now then we can eat." Scourgeclaw added in.

"I agree, we will eat in honor of our newest warriors." She meowed leaping to the top of Highrock and calling out to the clan. Scourgeclaw looked around and saw Mousefur and Mossflower emerge from the nursery. He beckoned the two over to him and they each seated themselves beside him. Bluestar looked up into the sky and fixed her gaze on the stars.

"Darkstripe, Whitestorm, Scourgeclaw, are you satisfied that your apprentices are ready to become warriors?"

"Yes, they're ready" They answered collectively

"I Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn."

"Sandpaw, Dustpaw, Falconpaw do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do" Sandpaw answered with her eyes shining.

"I do" Dustpaw meowed, his voice strong.

"I do," Falconpaw's voice was strong and unwavering, his ice blue eyes gleaming.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Sandpaw, from now on, you will be known as Sandstorm. StarClan honors your courage and spirit and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."Bluestar then rested her muzzle onto of Sandstorm's head and Sandstorm licked her shoulder respectively then turned and walked over to Whitestorm.

"Dustpaw from now on you will be known as Dustpelt, StarClan honors your bravery and honesty and ThunderClan welcomes you as a full warrior." Bluestar touched her muzzle to his head and he licked her shoulder respectively before joining the other warriors. She finally turned her attention to the golden brown apprentice.

"Falconpaw from now on you will be known as Falconstrike, StarClan honors your independence and determination and ThunderClan welcomes you as a full warrior." She touched her muzzle to his head and he respectively licked her shoulder then stood to make his way over to Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw was surprised to see Mousefur move to let Falconstrike take his place beside Scourgeclaw.

"Sandstorm, Dustpelt, Falconstrike, Sandstorm, Dustpelt, Falconstrike," The Clan called out. Bluestar waved her tail for silence.

"In the tradition of our ancestors these three will sit a silent vigil till dawn while the rest of us sleep, but before they start the Clan will share a feast in their honor ; Fireheart and Scourgeclaw I thank you both for your courage and I am proud that I can count on you two as members of ThunderClan. The Clan yowled out again calling out Scourgeclaw's and Fireheart's names. The Clan then began to make their way over to the fresh-kill pile. Mossflower purred her congratulations to Falconstrike and Scourgeclaw before making her way over to the fresh-kill pile. Falconstrike dipped his head to Scourgeclaw respectfully and Scourgeclaw touched noses with his former apprentice, who purred softly in response. Falconstrike then rose to his paws and headed over to the fresh-kill pile, he pulled out a vole and moved to eat with Swiftpaw. Scourgeclaw wondered how Swiftpaw was handling having his brother be made a warrior before him. Shaking his head clear of his thoughts made his way over to the fresh-kill pile.

Okay I'm done with this chapter

**Zozosisi159** asked a question of how old Mossflower and Scourgeclaw are. Mossflower is the same age as Mistyfoot and Stonefur I don't know how old they are exactly but that is her age.

Scourgeclaw is closer to Whitestorm's age, I remember in Bluestar's prophecy when Bluestar first met Scourge she remarked that he looked like he was Whitekit/storm's age.

I wouldn't worry too much about a cat's age I've noticed that some cats seem to age faster than other cats even if their born later than some cats; a few examples of this: Tigerclaw and Whitestorm. Tigerclaw was born before Whitestorm was yet by The Darkest Hour Whitestorm's ready for the elder's den yet TigerClaw is still fit for battle. Another example is Shadepelt of RiverClan. She was an apprentice in Fire and Ice yet by the time of Midnight she is an elder and they don't mention her having a disease or any injury that would cause her to be an elder so soon, at least I don't remember anything. My final example is from The Last Hope, when either Lionblaze or Dovewing I can't remember who mentions that Spiderleg might be ready for the elder's den, which honestly is surprising considering there are a lot of other cats older than him including his father and mother yet none of them are mentioned being ready for the elder's den.

REVIEW and let me know what you think.


	22. Chapter 22

Okay here's a new chapter

Sorry for not updating in awhile

Chapter 22

Scourgeclaw pushed through the snow with a scrawny squirrel seized in his jaws. He pushed his way through the gorse tunnel and made his way to the small fresh-kill pile. He shook his coat to warm up his fur and turned to make his way back out to into the forest. He stopped at the sound of Bluestar calling for a Clan meeting. He made his way over to Fireheart who was sitting in one of the bare spots in the clearing where Sandstorm, Dustpelt and Falconstrike had sat vigil last night. He sat in a spot beside his brother that smelt of Falconstrike. He then turned his attention to Bluestar as she began to speak.

"I wanted to make sure you were all aware Brokenstar was in camp with us." She started to speak. No cat made a sound already knowing he was there.

"He is blind and also harmless" she added and some cats snorted in disbelief

"I understand your concerns, but StarClan wouldn't forgives if we turned him into the forest while he is in his condition, once he has healed then we will discuss this again." She finished without waiting a reply she leapt down from Highrock and made her way over to Fireheart. Scourgeclaw tapped his tail on Firehearts head in assurance then headed toward the warriors den, deciding he needed a rest before he went back out to hunt.

Scourgeclaw crawled out of his nest and gave himself a long stretch. He padded outside the warriors' den noticing the snow around the clearing. He had seen Sandstorm and Dustpelt sleeping in their new nests within the warriors' den. He figure Falconstrike had gone out to hunt. He took a look around and saw Fireheart and Graystripe returning with fresh-kill in their jaws. He noticed that Fireheart looked troubled and would glance at Graystripe. Scourgeclaw sighed, realizing that the two of them were not hunting under friendly terms and suspected that Bluestar had something to do with them hunting together. He started to make his way over to the pair, when he saw Brindleface and Mossflower making their way over to him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked calmly to the two queens.

"Have you seen Cloudkit or Brindleface's kits?" Mossflower asked, Scourgeclaw stared at her in confusion.

"No I haven't are they missing?" he asked, Brindleface nodded distress evident on her face.

"What's wrong?" Fireheart meowed, as he bounded over to them.

"Brindleface's kits are missing and so is Cloudkit" Scourgeclaw answered; Fireheart's eyes widened in alarm.

"But they could freeze out there, I'll go look for them." Fireheart assured them and looked around the clearing. Scourgeclaw guessed he was looking for Graystripe; as he watched his brother head into the warrior's den, but something else was bothering him.

"Where's Mousefur? Wasn't she watching our kits?" he asked curiously. Mossflower shook her head

"She went hunting with Runningwind, she said she needed a break from the kits." She explained Scourgeclaw blinked slowly as he listened to her before he nodded slowly in understanding.

"I see, I'll go help Fireheart." He called as he raced after his brother who was leaving the camp with Sandstorm. 'I guess that talk will be happening sooner than I thought,' Scourgeclaw thought grimly to himself, as he caught up with Fireheart and Sandstorm.

"They couldn't have gone far, you two head toward the training hollow, i'll head toward the pine forest." he called as he took off into the snowy forest.

Scourgeclaw looked around the forest trying to look for any sign of his nephew or the gray flecked pelts of Brindleface's kits. Feeling the chill in the air made him actually worry for their safety knowing that they could die in the frigid weather. As Scourgeclaw walked further ahead he caught sight of two bundles of gray fur sitting close to each other, their pelts touching. Scourgeclaw bounded over to them.

"What are you two doing out here and where is Cloudkit?" Scourgeclaw demanded fixing them with a stern look.

"We were hunting, Cloudkit is trying to catch some prey." squeaked Fernkit. Scourgeclaw looked around but couldn't see his wayward nephew anywhere.

"Cloudkit" Scourgeclaw called out, peering through the snowflakes that were steadily falling. Suddenly something caught his eye. He saw a small white shape haggardly struggling through the snow in his direction, he knew without a doubt it was Cloudkit and he was carrying a vole in his jaws, but that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the bigger cat that was following close behind Cloudkit. Scourgeclaw felt the fur on his spine begin to rise as he started to make out a dark tabby pelt; but as the strange cat grew closer the fur began to lie flat and Scourgeclaw's eyes softened slightly as he saw what the cat was carrying in his jaws. Scourgeclaw heard rustling behind him and turned, relaxing when he saw it was only Fireheart and Sandstorm both looked relieved to see the kits but, became cautious as they saw the dark tabby approaching. Fireheart became excited as he recognized the cat approaching and spoke reassuringly to Sandstorm.

When Cloudkit was close enough, Scourgeclaw picked him up by his scruff of his neck; but Cloudkit held on stubbornly to his catch. Fireheart and Sandstorm picked up Ashkit and Fernkit, respectively and the mystery cat held onto his own bundle. Fireheart and Sandstorm lead the way to the camp with Scourgeclaw and the cat following close behind them.

Bluestar was waiting outside the den when she spotted the group she turned leading them back into the camp; the group followed close behind her.

Mossflower sat in the clearing, comforting Brindleface who was distressed. She could understand the queen's distress after already losing two of her kits and the other two currently missing she imagined that she would be as distressed as the gentle gray queen. Mossflower looked up as she saw Bluestar enter the clearing with Fireheart, Scourgeclaw, Sandstorm and a cat she almost didn't recognize.

"It can't be" Mossflower heard Brindleface breath from beside her; but before she could question her, the queen had already begun to make her way over to the group.

"Smokekit, Smokekit, " she called out, Mossflower saw the gray bundle that rest beside the fourth cat's paws perked up and move toward the gray queen.

"B-Brindleface," it squeaked, with the call of her name; the queen bounded over to the kit and immediately began to lick his fur.

"Your alive, thank you StarClan" she called out, Ashkit and Fernkit bounded over to their mother and brother, Brindleface wrapped her tail around her litter happy that they had been reunited. The Clan had emerged from their den's after hearing the commotion and were shocked a bewildered. Mousefur and Runningwind returned looking around confused. Longtail filled them in on what happened and Mousefur raced over to check on Cloudkit who was still holding on stubbornly to his prey as he sat under the watchful eye of Scourgeclaw, Fireheart and Bluestar.

"Longtail, go find the other search party; Let them know we found the kits" Bluestar called not taking her eyes off Cloudkit. Longtail nodded and raced out the gorse tunnel. "Brindleface, I know you are happy to be reunited with your son but we need to deal with what has just occurred." Brindleface nodded to Bluestar and moved her tail and nudged Ashkit and Fernkit over toward Bluestar. Once the kits were settled together, Bluestar fixed then with a sharp glare.

"What in StarClan's name were you thinking? You know it's against the warrior code for kits to hunt." She hissed. Ashkit and Fernkit flinched and tried to shrink into themselves, but Cloudkit sat tall and defiantly.

"The Clan needed prey so we went to get some." He told her.

"And whose idea was it?" she asked coldly

"Mine," Couldkit declared. Scourgeclaw had to give his nephew credit; he had guts to not back down under Bluestar's glare.

"Do you realize you could have frozen to death?"

"We did it for the Clan." Answered Cloudkit

Bluestar sighed, but continued to fix him with a cold glare.

"While your intentions were go, they were poorly thought out, it was very foolish of you to do what you did." She told him.

"I caught something."

"So I've seen" she replied coldly. "I'll let your mothers decided your punishment, but I never want you doing anything like this again; Now go to the nursery so you can get warm and dry." The kits nodded, Brindleface ushered her three kits back toward the nursery just as the search party was returning. Bluestar then turned her attention to the mystery cat that had brought Smokekit back to ThunderClan.

"Who are you and why did you have Smokekit?" she asked with a deadly calm air around her. The other cats seemed to just notice the newcomer and went on high alert watching him closely. Scourgeclaw noticed some of their faces were mixed with both shock and confusion as they looked over the dark tabby cat and couldn't help but feel amused he figured he wasn't the only one to notice the similarity the tom shared with another cat. The tom in question looked around the camp then met Bluestar's gaze.

"My name is Talon, I found the kit once when I had entered the forest some time ago. I noticed how sick he was and took him to some twolegs I knew would be able to help him" He answered. Darkstripe hissed in his direction.

"What was a kittypet like you doing in our territory?" Darkstripe hissed, Talon looked unthreateningly at Darkstripe and purred with amusement as he spoke.

"Because I have just as much right to be hear as you do." Talon spoke confidently and coolly. Tigerclaw growled

"Says who kittypet?" he growled

"Me," spoke Mossflower

"Me too" Fireheart answered

"And Me as well" spoke Scourgeclaw fixing Tigerclaw with a cool gaze. Bluestar looked at the three questionly.

"Do you three know this cat?" she asked. They nodded simultaneously. "You say there is true to his claim?" Mossflower stepped forward moving to stand beside Talon, who purred at her in greeting.

"There is, My adopted mother is his mother, his father was her mate a cat who went by the name of Pine, but before that his name was Pinestar." She finished; letting the rest of the cats figure the rest out. For some of the Clan then name didn't connect with them but the older warriors knew who she spoke of. Bluestar's eyes widened in shock and surprise, the elders gasped and stared on looking closely at the tom and Mossflower could see recognition in their eyes as they looked from him to Tigerclaw. 'So they see the similarity between them too' she thought as she looked at the other cats. Tigerclaw finally spoke up.

"I don't believe it and even if it's true, it doesn't give you the right to be here, Pinestar left to be a kittypet and you were raised by a kittypet so you belong with kittypets." He hissed. Unshaken by Tigerclaw's hostility, Talon looked the other tom over.

"You know my father told me, he left a son in ThunderClan that looked a lot like me, I can see what he meant now, and he said his name was Tigerkit." Talon spoke staring Tigerclaw down. The rest of the Clan started to understand the older warriors shock now that they began to piece things together. Tigerclaw growled again and lunged at Talon but was intercepted by Whitestorm who forced Tigerclaw down.

"Tigerclaw calm down, don't you understand he's your brother." Whitestorm spoke calmly to the tom. Tigerclaw scrambled to his paws and spat fiercely over his shoulder as he made his way over to warrior's den

"He's no brother of mine!" and with that said Tigerclaw disappeared into the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw watched him go with a feeling of satisfaction. He turned his attention back to Bluestar as she recovered enough to speak.

"Forgive Tigerclaw he was not ready to hear such news, I need a moment to think this over." She spoke softly but loud enough for the clan to hear her. "Would the elders, Speckletail, Goldenclaw and Goldenflower join me in my den please?" The mentioned cats followed closely after their leader. The rest of the Clan began speaking quietly to one another. Scourgeclaw could he bits and pieces of their conversations but he knew they were talking about Talon and Tigerclaw's reaction to him.

"So how have you three been?" Talon asked suddenly. Mossflower couldn't help but mrrow in laughter.

"Only you would stir up so much drama in one day and have the nerve to act like nothing happened." Mossflower shook her head in amusement. "I think we should be asking what you're doing here."

"Just as I told you, I was bringing Smokekit back and I was hoping to see you, I've missed you Moss" he meowed softly. She purred and pressed her nose into his fur.

"I've missed you too and my names Mossflower now." she replied

"I know Scourgeclaw told me. You also have kits now right?" he asked curiously. Her eyes softened at the mention of her kits.

"Yes I do, would you like to see them?" she asked Talon purred at her in amusement.

"I would, however maybe we should wait for Bluestar's verdict of me before then, plus I'm not sure your mate would like it." He replied, Mossflower turned toward Runningwind who was watching them with a jealous gaze. As she moved to calm her mate down, Talon turned his attention to Fireheart and Scourgeclaw.

"So anything new happen that I don't know about?" Talon asked the two curiously

"I'm a warrior now, my name is Fireheart and Scourgeclaw has kits now" Fireheart replied. Talon blinked rapidly in shock and looked at Scourgeclaw who watched him with a smug expression.

"Well I knew about you be coming a warrior Fireheart, but I had no idea Scourgeclaw contributed to the growth of ThunderClan." He breathed looking at the black warrior. "Good job,"

Bluestar chose that moment to emerge from her den and address the Clan.

"I have decided that, while Pinestar did leave ThunderClan to become a kittypet, this should not be a reason to keep his kin out of ThunderClan, Talon has a right to be here." She paused allowing the Clan to take in her words. "Because of this I feel it is only fair to extend an invitation to Talon to join ThunderClan." Scourgeclaw looked at the cats who had emerged from Bluestar's den and saw their determined expressions. He looked at Talon who was watching the Clan's reactions and seemed to be thinking her words over.

"I accept Bluestar, and I'm honored to join my father's birth Clan." He finally answered.

I'm sorry this chapter is so short

However

I want to know if I should make Talon a warrior or an apprentice. Bluestar made Mossflower and Scourgeclaw warriors mainly because she knew that Kana would train Mossflower to hunt and protect herself and Because she could tell that Scourgeclaw had received a lot of experience during his time as a rogue however she doesn't know much about Talon other than he's Kana's and Pinestar's son she doesn't know if he knows how to hunt and protect himself.

If I make him a warrior what do you think his name should be?

I had the name Talonstrike chosen but recently I started liking Talonclaw, but I am open for any suggestions that you may have in fact you can give me an idea for a name for any of these cats:

Birdkit

Morningkit

Smokekit

Swiftpaw

I added Swiftpaw to the group because I haven't decided if he'll live or die in this story and sometimes having an awesome warrior name helps to save a character in my stories.

Bluekit's and Nightkit's names/fates are set in stone which is why they're not in the group. All the other cats mentioned have a name I've chosen for them but I still want others ideas for names because sometimes I like the names I chose for my cats but sometimes someone might come up with a name I like better than the name I chose so I'm open for suggestions for those cats

I hope you like this chapter and give me some feedback by reviewing


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Okay first I would like to say if any of you have PM'd me in the past and I haven't responded it's not that I don't care or anything it's just that I hardly check the PM box I usually just add the chapter and log off, and the email address that I use for this sight I haven't used as often, but I plan to check it more frequently now. So If I haven't gotten to you in the past I sincerely apologize for not responding when I should have.

Now for the names: Like I said in the last chapter I have names picked out for the cats I have mentioned, however sometimes I'll see a name better than the one I picked out. So I felt it was only fair to let you know what names I had originally chosen and what names I'm considering.

For fair warning just because I have a warrior name picked out for a cat doesn't necessarily mean they'll live to see their warrior ceremony. It just means that if they do make it to their ceremony I'll have a name prepared.

I had originally chosen the name Birdsong for Birdkit, but earlier someone mentioned the name Birdtalon and I have to say I liked it a bit better, and it's ultimately what made me want to ask for name suggestions for the cats that I had listed in the last chapter. Another name I considered for Birdkit was Birdflight and Birdfeather.

For Morningkit I had battled long and hard between the names Morninglight and Morningsky and had originally settled for Morninglight, but then someone brought up Morningsky again and the internal battle was on once more and Morningdawn and Morningdew got thrown into the mix as well.

Then came Smokekit, I have to say his name was the toughest for me to choose because originally I was stuck between Smokepelt and Smokecloud , and to be honest I'm still stuck between those names though I also like the names Smokestorm and Smokefur.

And last but not least Swiftpaw, his death hit me hard in the books when I first read it and before then I was thinking his warrior name would be Swiftclaw…and then he died… so that was going to be my name for him in this story if several people hadn't of said the names Swiftwind, Swiftstrike or Swiftfoot.

*Sigh* I might hold a vote for those names but I'm not sure… I think I'll wait till the next chapter to decide.

Thank you to everyone who has given me name suggestions. They rock, I was struggling to pick which ones to choose especially for Morningkit her name has caused a lot of internal battles within myself that has ultimately intensified since I asked for name suggestions but I don't regret it at all.

Also for two of my other stories **Firepaw of SkyClan** and my newest story **A Sparrow's Fire** I'm doing a poll to decide Ravenpaw's warrior name. There are about 24 suggestions and you can enter your top 5 favorites in your vote. So if you're interested there is still time to vote and also check out my other stories in my profile.

Any way on with the chap….oh before I forget someone once asked me (In a PM) if I would be continuing my stories.

Let me just say that I will let everyone know if I plan to drop a story otherwise just consider it on hiatus for the time being (Meaning I'm battling with either school, or Plot bunnies)

I think I have remembered everything I was going to say now. On with the story.

**Okay someone mentioned in the reviews about being confused about who Scourgeclaw's apprentice was. His apprentice was Falconstrike but I forgot to add him in Bluestar's speech during the gathering. Talonstrike is Mossflower's foster brother and Tigerclaw's half brother.**

Throwing in a short allegiance of unfamiliar cats from the story in case anyone has forgotten them all of these cats are my original characters with the exception of Brindleface's third kit who I provided a name for and Brick who I'm adding in just cause she's not very well known.

Allegiances

THUNDERCLAN

Warriors: *Goldenclaw*- golden-brown tabby tom, Frostfur's mate

*Talonstrike*- dark brown tabby tom with white chest, amber eyes, Tigerclaw's half brother

*Falconstrike*- golden brown tom with black stripe down back, Swiftpaw's brother, Goldenflower's son

Kits: *Birdkit*- white she-cat with brown tabby patches, blue eyes, Mossflower and Runningwind's daughter

*Bluekit*- blue-gray tom with black paws and silver chest, dark blue eyes, Mossflower and Runningwind's son

*Nightkit*- - black she-cat with white forelegs, green eyes, Scourgeclaw and Mousefur's daughter,

*Morningkit*- chocolate tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice blue eyes, Scourgeclaw and Mousefur's daughter (Her pelt is brown, cream and white in case someone asks)

*Smokekit*- a dark gray tom, Brindleface's son

Cats outside of Clan

Brick- ginger she-cat with a patch of fur missing on her back, green eyes, supporter of Scourgeclaw

*Silver*- pretty silver tabby she-cat deep blue eyes, a follower of Dagger

*Dagger*- large dark brown tom with a white tail tip with amber eyes, the current leader of the Twolegplace cats.

Chapter 23

Bluestar nodded her head in acknowledgement; she beckoned him forward with her tail. The dark tabby warrior quickly made his way to the ThunderClan leader. She murmured softly into his ear, then began the ceremony.

"I Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this tom. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." Bluestar spoke clearly. "Talon, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Talon spoke confidently

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Talon, from now on, you will be known as Talonstrike. ThunderClan welcomes you as a full warrior." She touched her muzzle to his head and he bowed his head to lick her shoulder.

"Talonstrike, Talonstrike, Talonstrike,"chanted some of the Clan, the loudest being Mossflower, Fireheart, Scourgeclaw and Brindleface. Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, Longtail and Dustpelt were quiet as the Clan chanted. Bluestar raised her tail for silence.

"I would also like to thank Talonstrike for returning Smokekit to his rightful home and caring for him during his illness and for that we are grateful." Bluestar spoke gently, the Clan yowled happily at the news of Brindleface's son. With the ceremony over the cats decided to congratulate the newest warrior into ThunderClan. Talonstrike padded up to Mossflower purring softly.

"Maybe now I can see your kits?" he asked softly. Mossflower purred in reply.

"Of course you can and you can see, Scourgeclaw's kits as well." She replied leading him toward the nursery. Scourgeclaw and Fireheart followed them closely. Once they were inside the nursery, some of the queens watched Talonstrike cautiously and worriedly kept their kits from him, but Brindleface welcomed him warmly, her three kits nuzzled against her belly. Talonstrike gave her a friendly nod and turned to Mossflower who was nudging her two kits toward him.

"This is Bluekit" she purred pointing her tail toward the blue-gray tom. "And this is Birdkit" she purred point her tail toward her daughter. Talonstrike purred as he looked at the kits.

"They're beautiful kits Mossflower," he purred gently. Talonstrike turned as his tail was attacked by a ball of white fluff.

"Cloudkit, you shouldn't approach a cat you don't know with permission." Meowed Goldenflower softly.

"It's okay I don't mind," Talonstrike purred happily as he saw two other kits sit beside Cloudkit. Scourgeclaw wrapped his tail around the three.

"These are my kits: Morningkit, is the brown-cream tortoiseshell and white she-cat, Nightkit the black she-cat with the white forelegs and you've met Cloudkit,"meowed Scourgeclaw.

"They're a lively bunch," purred Talonstrike as he eyed the kits "You're lucky to have them." Just then Whitestorm came into the nursery looking around before settling his eyes on Fireheart, Scourgeclaw and Talonstrike.

"Hey you three Bluestar wishes to speak with you." He told them before turning and leaving, Mossflower looked curiously after him and looked questioningly at the three toms.

"I wonder what she wants?" she spoke aloud.

"We won't know till we talk to her," Scourgeclaw shrugged bent his head and began licking his kits' ears, who purred lovingly at him. He then stood and headed out the nursery, leaving his kits with Mossflower. He looked around the camp and spotted Bluestar sitting near the Highrock, she beckoned him over with her tail. He made his way over to her with Fireheart and Talonstrike following after him. Bluestar turned and headed into her den, the three warriors followed after her. Once inside she settled into her nest and beckoned for them to make themselves comfortable. She regarded each of them carefully.

"First things first I want to welcome you to the Clan Talonstrike and let me say I knew your father well, he was leading this clan before I was even born, he was a great leader, I only ask that you respect our ways and live to your fathers expectations" Talonstrike nodded and meowed an agreement.

"Now Scourgeclaw you and Fireheart are to look after Talonstrike, show him around the territory and teach him about the four other clans that live here. You three seem to be very familiar with each other so I trust you to see to such an important task."

"We understand and accept responsibility for him." Answered Fireheart.

"Good and once more Talonstrike I thank you for returning Smokekit to his rightful home." Bluestar told him gently.

"I'm glad that I was able to return him to the Clan and his family." Talonstrike assured her.

"You all may go now, and don't let what Tigerclaw said get to you." She assured him and dismissed them with a flick of her tail. They left Bluestar's den and decided to go hunting for prey seeing the fresh-kill pile still so low. Scourgeclaw, Talonstrike and Fireheart head out into the forest and began to search for prey. Fireheart and Talonstrike went off in the direction of Sunningrocks. Scourgeclaaw figured that Fireheart wanted to show Talonstrike the boundary with RiverClan as well as show him a good spot to hunt. Scourgeclaw decided to try near the Great Sycamore, Scourgeclaw peered through the white flakes as he trudged through the snow, he could barely see his nose in front of him but he continued onward.

Scourgeclaw carried a scrawny mouse and vole back toward the camp. As he trudged through the snow he saw his brother and Talonstrike approaching. Talonstrike carried a scrawny squirrel in his jaws and Fireheart had caught a wood pigeon and was happy to see that none of them would be coming back without prey. Bluestar was surprised to see them entering the camp with prey.

"I'm glad to see that your hunting isn't impeded by the snow." Bluestar called to them as they approached the fresh-kill pile. They placed their catches within the pile and pulled out some prey for themselves, they settled near the warrior's den to eat their prey. Once they had finished they headed into the warriors' den, Scourgeclaw began to make a nest for Talonstrike, which Fireheart assisted him with. When they had finished it was late evening so the three decided to rest for the night.

Scourgeclaw woke to the sight of his brother leaving the warriors' den, he stretched out of his own nest and began to head in that direction. Talonstrike had awoken and followed after him. Scourgeclaw saw Fireheart talking quietly with Willowpelt about the weather. Moments later, Tigerclaw and Runningwind emerged. Runningwind watched Talonstrike closely, while Tigerclaw made it a point to not to look at his newly discovered half-brother. Scourgeclaw made sure to keep his amusement off his face, as he watched the interaction. Scouegeclaw paused suddenly as he caught the scent of a cat approaching, he could see from the corner of his eye that Tigerclaw had caught the scent as well. Scourgeclaw tensed his muscles since he could now he the pawsteps of the cat growing closer. Scourgeclaw could tell that the approaching cat was a WindClan warrior. Suddenly the tom burst through the entrance and ran directly toward them.

"ShadowClan and RiverClan are attacking our camp, we are outnumbered, and they will wipe out my Clan if you don't help." He gasped in despair. Bluestar emerged from her den and the Clan began to look to her for direction.

"We shall help, but I will remain behind. TIgerclaw will lead the charge." She called to her clanmates. "It is as we feared, ShadowClan and RiverClan have joined together, and we must stand by WindClan now, for we may be the next to fall victim to them." The Clan yowled in approval. "Tigerclaw I want you to make to patrols, one to lead the charge and the other to back it up."Tigerclaw nodded in agreement.

"Whitestorm will lead the second patrol, and I'll head the first. Darkstripe, Longtail, Dustpelt, Fireheart and Scourgeclaw will be in my group. Goldenclaw, Runningwind, Willowpelt, Falconstrike, Sandstorm, Graystripe and Brackenpaw will be in the other group." Scourgeclaw didn't even bother to wonder why Talonstrike wasn't included in the group, it was much too soon, he wouldn't know who to fight. Tigerclaw turned his attention to the WindCLan warrior. "What is your name?" the warriror hesitated and Scourgeclaw was shocked that Fireheart spoke up in the toms place.

"Onewhisker," Fireheart told the dark tabby, Tigerclaw barely looked at Fireheart before, turning his attention back to the WindClan warrior.

"Onewhisker you'll be in my group as well. Are we ready?" he called into the group. The Clan as one raised their tails and heads then yowled a battle cry that promised nothing but victory. Tigerclaw then turned and lead the cats out of the gorse tunnel.

They climbed up the ravine and into the forest, heading directly for Fourtrees and the uplands. Though the snow had stopped falling it was difficult trudging through the snow drifts. Scourgeclaw did his best from sinking too far into the snow, as they marched along. They cleared Fourtrees and were in the uplands before long. Scourgeclaw could almost hear the cries of battle from up ahead. Tigerclaw stopped them.

"Alright, Whitestorm wait until you here my battle cry." Tigerclaw called to the group. "Onewhisker lead us to the entrance," Onewhisker took off toward snow covered bushes. Tigerclaw was behind him with Darkstripe racing behind Tigerclaw. Scourgeclaw charged beside Fireheart who ran with grim determination. Soon they had broken into the camp and were surround by chaos. WindClan cats refusing to give ground to RiverClan and ShadowClan. ThunderClan charged into battle and began attacking all. Scourgeclaw started fighting with a dark brown RiverClan tom, who was grappling a gray queen. Scourgeclaw slashed his claws along the tom's flank. The tom howled and turned to face Scourgeclaw, swiping his paws at Scourgeclaw's face. Scourgeclaw moved out of the way and caught a paw in his jaws, twisting his body like an adder he forced the tom to roll his body to keep his paw from being broken. The gray queen slashed at the tom's belly sinking her claws deep into his flesh. The tom wailed and yanked his paw free, pushing his way through the camp wall to escape his opponets. The gray queen blinked gratefully at him, then turned back to battle. Scourgeclaw heard Tigerclaw's battle cry and knew the rest of the patrol we coming. Scourgeclaw turned and this time he sunk his claws into a ShadowClan warrior, he ripped the toms pelt apart as he twisted trying to get his paws on Scourgeclaw, but Scourgeclaw was much faster and he had the tom fleeing for the entrance. Scourgeclaw heard Tigerclaw call out for his brother. He followed the sound of the dark tabby's voice and saw where the fighting was the thickest. Scourgeclaw started to head in that direction. When he saw Leopardfur attack Fireheart. Scourgeclaw listened as he heard his brother call for Tigerclaw's help, but the deputy just stood there and watched. They weren't simply battling Scourgeclaw realized that Leopardfur was trying to kill his brother and Tigerclaw was doing NOTHING. Scourgeclaw saw red and charged for the RiverClan deputy slashing her in the face with a strong swipe. She released Fireheart immediately, but Scourgeclaw wasn't done. He slashed a deep wound that started from her shoulder and down her left flank. She shrieked in horror and pain and fell to the ground yowling her agony. A RiverClan tom raced to her side and helped the struggling deputy to her paws heading for the entrance. Scourgeclaw watched them go with cold eyes. He looked at his brother who glared just as fiercely after Tigerclaw, who had returned to battle.

"Are you alright?" Scourgeclaw asked him

"Yes, thank you she would have killed me if you hadn't stopped her." Fireheart murmured.

"Hopefully I blinded her and you'll never have to face her in battle anymore." Scourgeclaw growled angrily, now thinking he should have aimed his blow at her throat to make sure she wouldn't fight again, but dark thoughts aside, there was still a battle going on and once more he left Fireheart to fight on his own. Scourgeclaw attacked a RiverClan warrior who was clawing at a mottled brown WindClan warrior. He leaped on his back sinking his teeth deep into his scruff, slashing his long claws down the tom's back who reared up trying dislodge him. The Windclan warrior rose to his paws and slashed the RiverClan warrior on his belly, just as Scourgeclaw dropped down to the ground, keeping the tom's scruff in his jaws. Within moments they had the tom racing back for camp. Scourgeclaw raced away to find another opponent when he heard a call split the air

"Silverstream no," wailed a familiar voice. Scourgeclaw turned and saw the silver she-cat had his brother pinned and was about to attack him, he watched as she shook her head, and Scourgeclaw realized she must not have realized she was attacking Fireheart. Fireheart pounced on her when she let him up and he watched as his brother went to claw her but ultimately let her go and Graystripe went after her. Scourgeclaw shook his head. 'He did give up his loyalty for ThunderClan to her.' As Scourgeclaw looked around the clearing he saw Fireheart battling with Nightstar and was proud to see his brother sending the leader racing away calling for his Clan to retreat. 'That just leaves Crookedstar,' Scourgeclaw thought looking around once more. The RiverClan leader couldn't be seen at first, but then he spotted him fighting with Tigerclaw, he watched the deputy sink his teeth into Crookedstar's neck causing the tom to call for a retreat and within moments the WindClan camp was silent. ThunderClan was battered but WindClan were all bleeding and some were lying unmoving in the ground. Scourgeclaw watched as the WindClan medicine cat moved from warrior to warrior treating they're injuries. Fireheart came up to Scourgeclaw not looking too bad despite the battle. Willowpelt came over to the both of them with a mouthful of herbs and began treating Fireheart's wounds. Runningwind approached them both looking warmly at them.

"You both fought well, I'll make sure Bluestar knows," Runningwind promised, Willowpelt nodded in agreement.

You're are both exceptional warriors," she meowed softly. "If you have no other injuries I'll go treat some other warriors," Scourgeclaw and Fireheart sent her on her way. Darkstripe and Tigerclaw approached them looking hostilely at Fireheart.

"Darkstripe says he saw you let a RiverClan she-cat go without a single scratch." Tigerclaw growled at Fireheart. Scourgeclaw was ready to tell him what he thought of Darkstripe, but Fireheart spoke up instead.

"She escaped me, like Crookedstar did you. Did you expect me to kill her?" Fireheart challenged meeting the deputy with a cold emerald stare, "And maybe Darkstripe should chase after her himself and ask her if I laid a paw on her." Darkstripe sneered at the fiery warrior. Tigerclaw swished his tail in agitation.

"I hear Graystripe chase after her, maybe he'll tell us what state she's in?" Tigerclaw spoke. Scourgeclaw felt his paws kneading the ground his claws slightly sifting the earth as he did his best to keep from tearing into the dark tabby deputy.

Soon Graystripe came back into the WindClan camp entrance, Tigerclaw glared at him.

"So Graystripe what happened with that RiverClan warrior? Let me guess you couldn't catch up to her?" sneered Tigerclaw, agitated he turned and stalked away with Darkstripe trailing behind him. Scourgeclaw watched as his brother went over to comfort Graystripe and for the first time in a while he was greeted warmly by the gray warrior. Scourgeclaw sighed wondering what was to happen in later on. It was a while before ThunderClan returned to their own territory and recovered from the battle.

Scourgeclaw was walking around the pine forest, pushing his way through the snow, he was interested in checking out his private camp that he found, and he wanted to see how it was faring in the snow. His mind briefly went to the battle the day before and wondered how every Clan was fairing. ThunderClan had for the most part fully recover. But WindClan had been in bad shape after the battle was over. He was very curios how Leopardfur was fairing.

Once he had reached where the entrance was, he was surprised to see that the opening was cleared through. Cautiously he crept through the opening and into the clearing of the camp, which was covered in snow, but faintly he could make out faint paw prints from cats. He heard a noise come from the den where he had his previous meeting, he was about to go for his dog teeth, when a familiar face came out of the den.

"Brick," he hissed irritatingly, "What are you doing here?" Brick shuffled on her paws a bit and glanced back at the den.

"Y-you said you wanted us to keep track of her, but she was keeping track of us. She wanted to see you." Brick muttered. Scourgeclaw looked questioningly at her, 'who wanted to see me?' before he could think further on the matter, a beautiful silver tabby she cat, with deep blue eyes and a slim body came out from the den.

"You must Scourge," she drawled looking him over, "I expected you to be more…Intimidating." The tip of Scourgeclaw's tail twitched, the only sign of his irritation, he suddenly knew who he was speaking to. Turning to Brick he motioned for her to leave, Brick hesitated for the moment, but left following Scourgeclaw's demands. Scourgeclaw turned his attention back to the silver she-cat.

"You must be Silver, I would say it's a pleasure but I feel it wouldn't be returned."

"And you'd be right, I'm here for one reason," she returned.

"And that would be?" Scourgeclaw had a feeling he knew the answer, from the hard look in her gaze.

"Your death, by my paws." She hissed

"And why would you want that? Surely you see that Dagger is far worse of a leader then I was." Scourgeclaw countered.

"I admit that joining Dagger was a mistake, but killing you won't be." She seemed to relish the thought. "You killed my father and I plan to avenge his death," Scourgeclaw blinked slowly as he looked at her and thought back to his time as leader. 'I have only injured cats in the twolegplace the only cat I've killed recently is that rogue that appeared in the ThunderClan camp, but there is no way she'd know about that.'

"Your father? Are you certain I killed him? I was gone long before you came to join that particular group of cats," Scourgeclaw explained, "How do you know someone else didn't kill him?" Silver sniffed

"I know you killed him," she hissed angrily," Dagger told me how he came to you with a request and after than no one ever saw him again." And just like that Scourgeclaw knew exactly who her father is.

"What if I were to prove that you were lied to?" Scourgeclaw asked, Silver scoffed at the idea

"As if I'd believe any of your flea-bitten followers," she growled her fur ruffling in anger, Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"No I mean what if I can prove he's alive?" Silver deflated a little and stared at him uncertainly.

"What do you mean? He can't be alive, there is no way he'd abandon my mother and I like that," she meowed in disbelief shaking her head

"Maybe he didn't have a choice in the matter," Scourgeclaw told her, "You were a kittypet right?"

"What of it?" she meowed defensively, glaring at him.

"Nothing just wondering, now back to what I said earlier, what if I can prove your father is alive?" he asked her once more.

"If you can prove he's alive than, then I won't kill you," she meowed "But that's highly unlikely."

"Give me a few nights, to find your father, if I prove he is living you will cease this attempt on my life," he told her, "Follow me," and with that he turned and headed out of the den. Silver followed hesitantly, making her way through the snow.

Before long they had made their way close to the thunderpath, there was a tunnel that led directly beneath it. 'I really should tell Bluestar about this tunnel,' Scourgeclaw thought to himself, but shook those thoughts away and regarded Silver carefully.

"Meet me here, a few nights from now and I'll prove your father's alive." Silver sniffed as she peered curiously at the tunnel.

"And if you fail?"

"Then you can have your attempt at my life," he told her, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"How will I know you'll show up?"

"Most of the cats that live out here will be gone during the night, I merely have to come here, the moon will be full." He told her, "And if I don't all that means is that you will continue to make an attempt on my life"

"Fine I'll meet you here in a few nights, but if you try to trick me, you'll regret it." She hissed and in an instant she had gone. Scourgeclaw sighed, knowing it was another problem he had to deal with. With that knowledge in mind he took off for the camp.

Scourgeclaw yawned a little as he walked beside Goldenclaw, it was the night of the gathering and consequently a few nights since meeting Silver, he still had to get her father to the meeting place tonight if he didn't want her to be a problem for him in the future. 'I just need to sneak away at the right time,' he thought to himself, he honestly hadn't expected Bluestar to invite him to the gathering but he won't miss up the opportunity it would give him a reason to be out of camp. He glanced over at his brother and Graystripe, since the battle in WIndClan territory the two had rekindled their friendship, 'I wonder how long it will last this time?' he thought sarcastically.

When they reached the top of the slope, Scourgeclaw looked down and noticed a lot of hostility the WindClan cats were displaying for ShadowClan and RiverClan and he figured this was going to be an interesting gathering as he scanned the cats below one out stood out in particular that he needed to talk with, he also noticed that Leopardfur wasn't present for the gathering. Scourgeclaw overheard Whitestorm asking Bluestar, what they should say about Brokentail, since Bluestar insisted they call him that. Bluestar turned and regarded the others

"No one is to say a word about Brokentail, or the rogues these are ThunderClan's matters alone." She called to them.

"Are we ashamed of what we've done?" Tigerclaw questioned her,

"Of course not, we shouldn't be ashamed to show mercy, but we shouldn't go looking for trouble." She told him, Tigerclaw stayed silent afterward, and with a flick of her tail Bluestar led the charge into Fourtrees. Sourgeclaw looked around for the cat he saw earlier, but he had a feeling the tom was avoiding him, he'd be more amused if the situation wasn't so dire. It wasn't too long when the meeting started. Tallstar spoke first, telling the Clans about losing an elder, but that his warriors were still strong. Bluestar then decided to speak next.

"ThunderClan is proud to have four new warriors in camp, Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Falconstrike and Talonstrike." She meowed proudly, WindClan and ThunderClan cheered the loudest for the four, even though Talonstrike wasn't there for the gathering. He could tell some cats were suspicious since no one had seen the tom before, but Bluestar quickly finished up her report and stepped back so another cat could speak. Nightstar spoke of his clan doing well despite the cold weather, and let Crookedstar speak.

"RiverClan recovers as well, Leopardfur is currently unwell and Stonefur is currently acting as deputy in her stead."Crookedstar finished, Scourgeclaw felt so satisfaction that Leopardfur hadn't fully recovered yet. Once the meeting was over Scourgeclaw caught sight of his prey and was quick to corner him, behind one of the great oaks.

"You are coming with me," he hissed in the tom's ear, the tom shivered nervously,

"Why what are you going to do to me?" he asked cautiously. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes

"Nothing, I have to show something to you, it effects your life as well as my own."Scourgeclaw growled, the tom hesitated slightly, but followed after Scourgeclaw disappearing into the forest.

They reached the passage that led under the thunderpath and Scourgeclaw looked around cautiously, looking for any glimpse of the silver pelt. 'Did she leave already?' he wondered, but just as that thought came to him he heard a gasp. Turning he caught sight of the beautiful silver tabby making her way toward him. She looked startled and suspicious as she looked at the two of them. She immediately looked at the tom in question

"What is your name?" the tom glanced at Scourgeclaw then answered confusedly.

"Boulder," spoke the tom. She stiffened, in shock or fear Scourgeclaw couldn't tell.

"Did you have a mate?" she asked questioningly. Boulder stared at her with a bewildered look on his face.

"I did but it was long ago," he told her once more giving Scourgeclaw a questioning look. Silver hesitated a moment then spoke once more.

"What was her name?" She meowed softly. Boulder took a deep breath then spoke.

"Sapphira, she had beautiful blue-gray fur and gorgeous dark blue eyes" Boulder answered once more, then his eyes suddenly turned cold.

"Why do you want to know all these things? Who are you?" he demanded giving her a hard stare. Silver's eyes gazed longingly at his own.

"My name is Silver, I'm your daughter."

A/N: Okay I know I said this already, but I just want to say again that I don't mean to make Scourgeclaw look invincible but I figured there has got to be a reason why so many cats feared him in the twolegplace when most of them are bigger than Scourge. (I know there's the whole dog thing but really?) Anyway I've always Imagined Scourgeclaw to have long sharp claws, so sharp they can slice through fur and flesh like a knife through butter. No he wasn't using dog teeth in the battle if he had Leopardfur would be dead. We'll have to wait and see how she's fairing in the next chapter.

I just now realized that Sapphira's description almost matches Bluestar (she doesn't have a silver muzzle) and yes her name is Sapphira not Sapphire.

Surprise Surprise Boulder has a daughter, throwing in a twist.

Working on the next chap as you read this. (Though most of it is being done in my sleep)

Anyway I just want to say that for anyone reading my stories thank you for your comments and kind thoughts.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW


	24. Chapter 24

Happy New Year !

I know I know I haven't updated this thing in months and what's even worse is this is more of a filler chapter. I'm so so so so so Sorry… please forgive me please… I beg your forgiveness (Though I know I'm unworthy of it... Unworthy I tell you !)

_**Flashback**_

Chapter 24

Scourgeclaw was heading back to his camp in the Pine forest, beside him padded Silver, the she-cat seemed to carry an air of resolve in her, though he could also see a glimmer of happiness in her gaze. Scourgeclaw wondered what was going through the she-cat's mind. He thought back to the conversation that had been shared with Boulder earlier in the night.

"_**W-what? Y-you're my daughter?" Boulder looked confused. Silver nodded**_

"_**My mother is a kittypet named Sapphira, who lives in the twolegplace, she had me two moons after you left. I was the only kit in her litter to survive. My brother was still born, and my sister died a few days after our birth. My mother raised me telling me all about the twolegplace and you." Silver meowed, "She told me about some cats you use to hang around. Some cats named Jay, Pixie, Red and Marmalade" Boulder's eyes widened in shock realizing she was telling the truth.**_

"_**Sapphira was with kits?" he meowed with a sad shake of his head, "If I had known I would have waited to leave."**_

"_**She didn't know until a moon after you had left the twolegplace for good." She meowed softly. **_

"_**I don't know what to say," Boulder confessed sadly looking at her. "If you don't mind me asking what are you doing here?"**_

"_**I came originally to try and kill him," she flicked her tail over in Scourgeclaw's direction. Boulder looked between the two of them in alarm. **_

"_**But why? Why would you risk your life like that?" he questioned, his tone sounded slightly protective.**_

"_**I was told that you had been killed by Scourge," she explained "I was angry believing that, he was the reason for your disappearance…for why you were never there." Boulder looked away from her, Scourgeclaw could see pain in his gaze. **_

"_**I would have been had I known," Boulder told her gently. "I'm sorry for any pain I've caused you in my absence." **_

"_**There is no need, tell me…" she gazed into his eyes, "Why did you leave?"**_

"_**The twolegplace is a hard place to live in, there are lots of cats but little food for us." Boulder seemed to stare off into the distance. "I was struggling to survive there, when I met Sapphira, she was the most beautiful she-cat I'd ever met. She helped me and would catch some fat mice for me; that like to eat the berries and other food that grow in her twoleg's garden. We loved each other, but I felt that I was no good for her. She wanted me to live as a kittypet, but I couldn't do it and I just left. I never told her."**_

"_**She was devastated, she too thought you were dead." Silver murmured softly, looking up toward the moon, the light from it made her pelt look white as fresh snow. "She has moved on, but she still talks of you from time to time." A glimmer of sadness and slight regret flickered in Boulder's gaze as he looked upon Silver and listened to her words.**_

"_**While I hate to break this tender moment between the two of you,"Scourgeclaw interrupted before either could speak again. "The gathering is almost over and The Clans will be departing soon. Boulder needs to get back." Boulder nodded solemnly.**_

"_**He is right I must return," He meowed to her. "Perhaps you could join me in my Clan?" Silver looked at Scourgeclaw, than looked toward her father once more.**_

"_**I cannot," she spoke at last. "I have amends that I must make, before I can even think of such a thing." Boulder looked like he wanted to protest but a look from Scourgeclaw silenced him. Silver oblivious to the silent visual battle, padded up to her father and gently touched noses with him. **_

After the encounter Silver promised to see her father again. They were currently heading back to the spot where they had met. They slowly entered into the clearing and sat down. They both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Silver suddenly was on her paws and began to pace back and forth in front of Scourgeclaw who watched her with patience.

He looked closely at her and wondered what she was thinking about. 'Everything Dagger has told her was a lie, now what will she do with this information?' As if she had heard his thought, Silver suddenly stopped walking and stared forward at Scourgeclaw.

"Nothing he has told me was the truth was it?" she asked quietly. Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"Not everything was a lie. " Scourgeclaw meowed at last. "I have done things in my past I am not proud of, but I haven't killed without reason before." Silver seemed to accept this answer and it seemed to steel her resolve.

"I promise to help you bring down Dagger no matter what happens," she meowed with determination, "I won't quit until he's gone, whether by death or otherwise." Scourgeclaw nodded in understanding, he was pleased with her decision and a new plan was already forming in his mind.

"Tell Brick that you are to be accepted into my guard." He told her, "They won't like it, but they won't question me."

"But how will they know you sent me?" she asked curiously. Scourgeclaw made his way over to the old log, where he stashed is dog teeth. He stuck his paw into the old wooden log and pulled out a dog tooth, which was marked in his scent. He placed the tooth down before her paws than addressed her.

"Give them this and let them smell it they will know I gave it to you." He assured her calmly, sitting down and placing his tail over his paws. "You will still have to accept any punishment they give you." She nodded in agreement.

"As long as it doesn't kill me or maim me to the point I cannot complete my mission, then I will not fight my punishment." She meowed resolutely. She looked Scourgeclaw directly in the eye as she spoke. "It is only fair, I too have did things I'm not proud of." Scourgeclaw agreed quietly watching as she stood to her paws and headed for the tunnel with the dog tooth clamped in her jaws.

Scourgeclaw arrived back at camp to see that Bluestar was scolding Fireheart and Graystripe. 'What have they done now?' he thought in exasperation. From what he gathered of their conversation, Fireheart and Graystripe had snuck off to hunt for themselves. Scourgeclaw shook his head knowing there had to be more to it than that, but knew better than to voice those thoughts while in camp. He waited until Bluestar was finished talking to them and made his way over to them after Tigerclaw had sneered something at the pair of them.

"Do I want to know what you two have been up to?" he asked curiously, Fireheart looked at him a moment and shook his head. "I'll tell you another time." With that said, Fireheart and Graystripe headed for their nests. Scourgeclaw was going to do the same when a voice called out to him.

"A word Scourgeclaw?" Scourgeclaw sighed a little and made his way over to Bluestar. Bluestar's gaze was sharp as she took in Scourgeclaw's form. He eyes held a curiosity and slight uncertainty within them.

"Just where have you been?" she asked, Scourgeclaw sighed knowing he couldn't simply tell her what he was doing tonight. He looked into the deep blue eyes of Bluestar, blinking gently.

"Just taking a walk in the moonlight Bluestar," he told her finally, careful not to over think. "I felt stressed about the last battle and thought a walk would clear my head, but I lost track of time and when I came back everyone had headed back for camp." Bluestar narrowed her eyes taking in his scent and looking him over.

"Very well I believe you, but you forgot to let someone know where you were going, even Fireheart and Graystripe did that." She sighed as she looked at him. Scourgeclaw respectively dipped his head to her.

"I apologize Bluestar, it won't happen again," he told her.

"See that it doesn't," she gave him a curt nod and sent him off to his nest. Scourgeclaw entered the warriors den surprised to see that Sandstorm had made a nest directly next to Fireheart and Graystripe now occupied another side of Fireheart. Scourgeclaw could see that while his nest was still next to Fireheart's it wasn't as close as it had been previously. 'Hmm did I underestimate her feelings for Fireheart' He thought as he gazed down at Sandstorm.

Scourgeclaw woke to see Fireheart and Graystripe had left their nests already. It had been two days since the gathering, the day before last, Graystripe and Fireheart had spent hunting for the clan as punishment for apparently hunting for themselves. Fireheart still hadn't told him what he really had been doing that night, but he trusted Fireheart to tell him eventually. He stretched out of his nest and padded out of the warriors den he took a deep breath enjoying the fresh air. He looked over at the leader's den when he caught sight of some movement. Bluestar and Mousefur seemed to being having discussion outside of Bluestar's den. He noticed Bluestar seemed to be angered by whatever Mousefur was saying to her and was speaking heatedly with the dusky brown queen. Mousefur look sad, but determined as she spoke to Bluestar and whatever she had said to her was enough for Bluestar to finally relent and begrudgingly agree to whatever Mousefur had been saying to her. Bluetstar with a sharp flick of her tail dismissed Mousefur and headed into her den. Scourgeclaw watched in curiosity until Mousefur caught his eye.

Mousefur gave Scourgeclaw a sad, but determined look. Scourgeclaw sighed and beckoned her to follow him. She followed him resolutely out of the den. He led her out of the camp, further into the forest. They walked in silence, neither saying a word. Scourgeclaw heard the rustle of leaves signaling a mouse was scurriying under some undergrowth. Scourgeclaw couldn't bring himself to go after it. Something about this was wrong, Scourgeclaw could sense that something was about to happen to him and he wasn't certain if he was prepared to handle it yet. Shaking those thoughts from his mind he made his was over to a more secluded space. They settled down in a small clearing. No patrols had gone by and it was secluded; though not as secluded as the camp Scourgeclaw had found. Scourgeclaw sat down and waited patiently for Mousefur to speak to him. Mousefur sat down and for a moment she didn't look at Scourgeclaw and just stared up into the trees.

"I asked Bluestar to make me a mentor." Mousefur told Scourgeclaw at last still not looking at him directly, Scourgeclaw blinked slowly as he took in her words.

"To one of Frostfur's remaining kits?" he asked. She nodded. "And what about our kits?" Mousefur sighed once more before taking a deep breath and gazing into Scourgeclaw's eyes.

"Mossflower and Brindleface have agreed to watch them while I train my apprentice." She meowed finally. "I'll come and watch them in the evenings. Runningwind has agreed to take my apprentice out on border patrols while I'm in the nursery."

"May I ask why?" Mousefur turned her head away from him and once more there was silence.

"I never wanted any of this." She said at last, slowly turning to face Scourgeclaw. "I only ever wanted to be a warrior and nothing else. I love our kits, but I can't stay cooped up in the nursery like I've been."

"And me?"

"I can't do this to you Scourgeclaw, I can't keep dragging you along like this, when I don't love you." Scourgeclaw flinched a little. "I care for you greatly, but I don't love you, I thought I had, but I was wrong. I'm so sorry" she meowed with a slightly trembling voice, as if she was barely able to keep herself from breaking apart. "Please don't hate me." She murmured softly her eyes falling to the ground. Scourgeclaw stared at her for a moment, then spoke softly.

"I need some time to think about this." He meowed as last and headed back toward camp, leaving Mousefur alone to her own thoughts.

When Scourgeclaw arrived back at camp he saw Mossflower sitting outside the nursery. As he made his way over to her, she sprung to her paws. Her eyes filled with sorrow as she took in the confused and slightly hurt look on his face

"I'm sorry, Scourgeclaw are you alright?" she asked softly. Scourgeclaw looked at her

"I don't know." He meowed honestly. He looked at the nursery entrance. "How are they doing?"

"Well enough, Mousefur already told them that she will be out training with one of Frostfur's kits, they seem to be handling it okay, but I'm unsure. Brindleface is watching them." Mossflower explained, Scourgeclaw nodded and headed into the nursery. He saw his kits playing happily with Brindleface's kits and Mossflower's kits. Ashkit and Fernkit were wrestling with Bluekit. Cloudkit had Birdkit pinned and Morningkit was trying to best Smokekit in a tackling competition. He looked around for Nightkit and saw she was lying beside Thornkit, the two were talking quietly to each other. Scourgeclaw was surprised by this because he had never seen Nightkit spend time with any kits other than her littermates, Mossflower's or Brindleface's kits. Scourgeclaw was shaken from his thoughts by Brindleface who came to sit beside him.

"Thank you for watching my kits Brindleface," he meowed softly to her. She looked around the nursery making sure no one was listening to their conversation.

"It's no problem, it's the least I can do," she meowed quietly, "I don't how to thank you enough for saving Smokekit. He would have died if he stayed in the camp. Everyone could see that." Scourgeclaw nodded. Scourgeclaw remembered Brindleface helping him sneak the young tom out of camp. He gave the young tom to Princess who agreed to look after him until he was stronger. The only thing that Scourgeclaw didn't plan on was for Talonstrike to appear with the young tom. 'It was entirely unexpected' he thought to himself. A soft brush of fur on his flank made him peer down at his daughter Morningkit. The young she-kit was rubbing her face into his fur and giving him an inquisitive look.

"Scourgeclaw, Is Mousefur going to leave us?" she asked softly.

"She will be training a future warrior for the Clan. She'll still come stay with you at night and the days she doesn't need to train her apprentice." Scourgeclaw meowed softly. Morningkit purred and nuzzled his pelt. Scourgeclaw purred back and nuzzled her. She purred once more than raced back over to tackle Smokekit to the ground. Brindleface purred softly as she watched the two tumble around together.

"I think they'll be alright," meowed Brindleface softly, her face took on a more concerned look. "Will you be okay?" Scourgeclaw remained silent.

"Until he has earned his warrior name this apprentice will be known as Thornpaw." Bluestar turned her piercing blue gaze at the dusky brown queen as she made her way over to the young apprentice.

"Mousefur, you have told me that you are ready to take on an apprentice," she meowed sternly her eyes narrowing. "You have proven yourself to be a brave and intelligent warrior. May you pass on all that you have learned to this young apprentice," Mousefur nodded and touched her nose to Thornpaw's and the two moved off to the edge of the clearing. Some of the cats murmured in surprise by the choice of mentor. Scourgeclaw remained silent watching his former mate lead her apprentice to the edge of the clearing. He could see Fireheart watching him out of the corner of his eye, but refused to look his way. He kept a neutral look upon his face as he waited for the ceremony to finish.

Bluestar then turned her attention to the young ginger and white kitten that sat patiently awaiting her turn.

"From this moment on until she has earned her warrior name this apprentice will be known as Brightpaw. " Bluestar fixed her eyes on the large white form of Whitestorm. "Whitestorm now that Sandstorm has become a warrior you are free to take on another apprentice. You are a warrior of great skill and experience, may you pass on all you know to this apprentice." Whitestorm dipped his head to Bluestar than touched noses with Brightpaw before leading her off to sit beside her brother and Mousefur.

"Thornpaw, Brightpaw, Thornpaw, Brightpaw." The Clan cheered and then stood to congratulate the apprentices. Fireheart approached Scourgeclaw just as he was making his way over to congratulate the apprentices and their new mentors. The scent of fox-dug hit his nose suddenly and he almost recoiled when he discovered it was coming from his brother.

"What in the world have you been doing?" Scourgeclaw hissed under his breath "You smell like you're close to death!" Fireheart had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed.

"It's nothing really, it was an accident, I slipped and fell in a pile. " Fireheart grumbled under his breath.

"Fell? It smells like you rolled in it for hours. "Scourgeclaw sniffed in disgust. "On second thought I don't want to know what you've been doing."

"Do you know why Mousefur's becoming a mentor?" Fireheart asked curiously.

"It is because she wished to be a mentor that is all I know." He replied. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to congratulate her and the other apprentices." He moved of leaving his brother looking after him in curiosity.

Scourgeclaw came into the camp with a few small skinny mice in his jaws. Talonstrike was with him carrying a brambling. It was a meager catch but it would still feed some cats. As they entered the camp. Scourgeclaw caught sight of Fireheart leaving Bluestar's den looking forlorn as exited. Scourge was about to question his brother when something else caught his attention.

"Take that traitor," hissed a voice, Scorugeclaw looked and saw it was Cloudkit and he was attacking Brokentail along with Smokekit. He noticed that Darkstripe, who was on guard duty was doing anything to stop the kits and was actually watching them harass the blinded former ShadowClan leader in amusement. Scourgeclaw watched as Cloudkit started to gnaw at Brokentail's tail. Brokentail made to swat him away, when Darkstripe leaped to his feet hissing menacingly.

"Touch that kit, and I'll flay your skin into strips!" He growled. Scourgeclaw headed over to them and snatched up Cloudkit just as Fireheart bounded over and hissed at Smokekit to go back to his mother. Scourgeclaw growled angrily as he held Cloudkit by his scruff.

"Ow Stop, Scourgeclaw you hurting me!" Cloudkit wailed, and Scourgeclaw dropped him into the snow and glared angrily at him, before he could speak, Darkstripe padded up to stand beside Cloudkit.

"Leave the kit alone, he wasn't doing any harm,"

"Stay out of this Darkstripe," Scourgeclaw growled as he narrowed his eyes into icy slits. Darkstripe sniffed and shouldered past him to head back over to Brokentail hissing 'Kittypet' under his breath. It took all of Scourgeclaw's self-control not to rake his claws through his dark tabby fur. He stared back down at Cloudkit.

"I expected better of you Cloudkit," he looked him in his bright blue eyes. "You've disappointed me greatly, what would your mother think if she knew you had done something like this?" Cloudkit glared up at him defiantly.

"Mousefur doesn't care at all that's why she never spends time with us anymore." Cloudkit huffed, "Nightkit and Morningkit might not realize it but I do." Scourgeclaw closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked at Fireheart, who had been silently watching the exchange, he nodded to Scourgeclaw in answer to his unspoken question. Scourgeclaw looked down at Cloudkit and brushed his tail over his ears.

"Come with me, there is something I must tell you." Scourgeclaw meowed heading for the entrance. Cloudkit looked after him in shock and surprise.

"Your letting me leave camp with you?" he asked wide eyed and excited, he could barely keep his paws still "I won't get in trouble, will I?" Scourgeclaw shook his head.

"No you won't, As long as you stay with me" Scourgeclaw meowed, "Now are you coming or not?" Cloudkit bounded after him, making sure to stay close to Scourgeclaw.

The came to a small clearing not too far from the camp, Scourgeclaw sat down and looked at Cloudkit with a slightly nervous feeling overtaking him but he knew this conversation could no longer wait.

"Cloudkit did you hear what Darkstripe called me earlier?" he asked patiently, Cloudkit nodded looking confused.

"Yeah he called you a kittypet," Cloudkit meowed making a confused face. "What's a kittypet?" Scourgeclaw kept his face as neutral as possible. Trying to think of the best way to explain it to Cloudkit.

"It's a cat who lives with twolegs in their nest." He meowed at last, Cloudkit seemed even more confused.

"But you don't live with twolegs,"

"But I use to, and so did Fireheart and Mossflower," he explained to Cloudkit. Cloudkit's eyes widened in surprise, he seemed to be looking at Scourgeclaw with new eyes.

"So I'm half-kittypet?" Cloudkit asked thinking it over. Scourgeclaw sighed and closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"No you aren't half-kittypet you are a full kittypet, just like I am" Scourgeclaw told him as he reopened his eyes to look directly into Cloudkit's, Cloudkit looked at him in horror.

"You mean Nightkit, Morn-" Scourgeclaw interrupted him before he could finish.

"No Nightkit and Morningkit are only half-kittypet, you are the only one who is a full kittypet." Cloudkit stared up at him, looking confused and a little hurt.

"You mean I'm not their brother and you and Mousefur aren't my parents?" Scourgeclaw nodded solemnly.

"You are my nephew, your real mother is mine and Fireheart's sister Princess, and it was her desire that you become a warrior, just like us. She helped Mousefur give birth to Nightkit and Morningkit and before we left back for camp she gave you to us and asked myself and Mousefur to raise you into a loyal and proud warrior of ThunderClan." Scourgeclaw paused slightly to make sure Cloudkit had understood what he was telling him before he continued. "She loves you with all her heart, but she herself did not have it in her to be a warrior, this is why Mousefur had been caring for you up until this point."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" 'I just did' Scourgeclaw thought to himself.

"I had always planned to tell you, but the time was never right." Scourgeclaw confessed, "I had hoped that Mousefur would have told you, but I know now she didn't.

"Who else knows?"

"Only Fireheart and Mousefur, It was secret kept between us" Scourgeclaw told him with clear eyes." Cloudkit fluffed out his pelt looking forward with determination.

"I will become the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen," he vowed strongly "No cat will ever question my loyalty or care what blood moves through my veins. I'll make my mother proud."Scourgeclaw felt the warm glow of pride as he listened to his nephew's vow.

"I'm sure she will be, when your older I'll take you to see her if you'd like?" Cloudkit looked at him a moment than nodded.

"I would like that." Scourgeclaw nodded stiffly, keeping his face carefully blank of emotion. For a moment there was silence between them.

Let's head back now, I'm sure Mossflower and Brindleface are worried sick." Scourgeclaw spoke suddenly. Cloudkit nodded and slowly rose to his feet and began to follow after Scourgeclaw.

"Cloudkit?"

"Yes Scourgeclaw?

"I just want to remind you that I am your kin, and I care for you as any father would, you will always be my son." Scourgeclaw meowed without facing him. Cloudkit bounded forward until he was walking side by side with Scourgeclaw.

"Thank You,"

Sap I wrote sap I can't believe it (Yes I can now that I think about)

So Scourgeclaw isn't a heartless fart knocker and cares for his kits I wanted to point this out for everyone. He may act a little awkward around them sometimes but he does care.

Boulder and Silver had a moment and Scourgeclaw is apparently planning something.

Don't hate Mousefur I beg you, I had always planned for Scourgeclaw and Mousefur to break apart though this had not been the original time it was going to happen. Never the less it has happened now.

Review and let me know what you think.


	25. Chapter 25

Okay so I know people have been asking me about one of my other stories: Fire in the Sky. As I've mentioned, I haven't quit the story I just haven't decided what to do about Sandstorm and I'm considering doing a poll for her to help me make up my mind after I make my decision about Ravenpaw's warrior name.

If you don't know for two of my other stories I've been doing a poll to see what Ravenpaw's warrior name will be. First place name will be his name in my story Firepaw of SkyClan and the second place name will be his name in: A Sparrow's Fire. There is still time so feel free to vote if you haven't already or just feel like voting. Unfortunately you do have to log into vote. Though I may consider accepting votes left in my reviews.

Anyway here's chapter 5

Chapter 25

Scourgeclaw was padding through the forest, he was lost deep in his thoughts about the twolegplace and his plans for his cats. He had made many changes to his plans before and once more had to change another. The previous day he had let Cloudkit join him in the forest and told him the truth of his birth. As they made their way back to ThunderClan it was the very first time he had wondered what would become of his kits if he executed his plan and he didn't like the answer that came to him.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" asked a voice. Scourgeclaw looked around felt a bit of snow land upon his head. He shook it off and looked upward. Talonstrike was lounging on the branch of an oak tree watching him with amusement.

"What are you doing up there?" Scourgeclaw countered. Talonstrike cocked his head to the side.

"I asked you first." Talonstrike retorted with a coy look on his face. Scourgeclaw briefly wondered if he could leap high enough to knock the dark brown tabby off of the branch.

Suddenly he was shaken from his thoughts by the wailing of a kit. Both Talonstrike and Scourgeclaw froze listening thoughtfully. Scourgeclaw listened carefully and realized he knew that voice. 'Cloudkit' he thought as he took off in the direction of the sound. He heard the sound of snow crunching as Talonstrike leaped from his branch and followed after him. As they closed in on the direction of the voice, Scourgeclaw heard it call out once more.

"Fireheart Help me," wailed Cloudkit. Scourgeclaw put on a burst of speed knowing his brother was also close by. When they reached the hollow. They saw Fireheart, Sandstorm and Brackenpaw fighting with a badger. Scourgeclaw raced down the slope and leaped forward catching its forepaw in his jaws before it could land a blow on Sandstorm. Talonstrike caught the badger's ear in his jaws and raked his hind legs along the back of the burly creature keeping it from biting Scourgeclaw. Sandstorm sank her teeth into the hind leg of the badger.

The badger growled and twisted dislodging them from its body. Drops of Scarlet blood stained the snow on the ground as the beast began to back away. Fireheart, Sandstorm, Scourgeclaw and Talonstrike advanced on the creature until it turned and lumbered away. Scourgeclaw looked around for Cloudkit and spotted him wedged between to rocks.

"Are you alright?" he asked him with a sharp eye. Cloudkit nodded shakily, "What were you doing out here by yourself?"

"I was with Brindleface and Mossflower they had taken all of us out of camp. I had been playing for a little while when I lost track of them so I decided to look for you or Fireheart…but then I ran into the badger." he mewled he was shaking a little. Fireheart moved to comfort him when Sandstorm told him to take a look at Brackenpaw's hind leg. Scourgeclaw stepped forward and wrapped his tail around his nephew.

"We should head back to camp," meowed Fireheart, as he helped Brackenpaw stand. Scourgeclaw meowed an agreement and nudged Cloudkit to his paws. The group warily made their way towards the camp listening closely for any sign of badgers.

"You were pretty brave Talonstrike, "Sandstorm meowed nudging the dark tabby warrior. Talonstrike licked his chest fur briskly.

"It was nothing," Talonstrike purred, "I've tangled with dogs bigger than that thing," He gently brushed his fur against the pale ginger she-cat. Scourgeclaw noticed Fireheart's claws flex a little when he saw the interaction, and had to force his face to stay neutral. He walked up next to Talonstrike keeping his eye on Cloudkit.

"Thanks for saving me from a nasty bite," murmured Scourgeclaw, "Wish I could save you from yours," He meowed glancing at Fireheart again. Talonstrike gave him a devious look and murmured softly "Oh you won't have to I promise."

As they reach the ravine, Brindleface and Mossflower came racing out of the camp entrance headed straight for Cloudkit. They smothered him with anxious licks and questions wondering where he had gone. Firestar and Sandstorm helped Brackenpaw through the tunnel so that he could get his wounds treated in the Medicine cat den. Tigerstar made his way over to the group looking very irate.

"Causing trouble again? I thought you were warned about wandering off?" He growled angrily glaring at Cloudkit. Scourgeclaw's own glare was icy and it matched his voice as he growled back at Tigerclaw.

"He was attacked by a badger and we rescued him." Hissed Scourgeclaw, his tail angrily lashing from side to side. "And he didn't wander off."

"Oh? Then how is it that he was the only one missing?" Tigerclaw meowed darkly at Scourgeclaw giving him a harsh stare. "I find that very convenient considering this the third time the Clan has had to search for him do to his reckless behavior." Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean the third time?" Tigerclaw gave him an amused glance,

"Did no one tell you? I would have thought Mousefur would have told you how Cloudkit rounded up several of the kits and had them chasing after our patrol so they could join us when we went to stop RiverClan and ShadowClan from driving out WindClan." Tigerclaw sneered. Scourge flattened his ears in anger and annoyance. He glared heatedly at the dark tabby warrior. 'Why had I not heard anything of this? Is he lying?' But Scourgeclaw could see from slightly guilty look Mossflower wore on her face, as he glanced over at her, that it was true.

"He needs to start taking some responsibility obviously the queens aren't doing a good job of disciplining him, If wants to act like an apprentice so bad then I'll treat him like one." Tigerclaw growled lowly, turning his gaze onto Cloudkit. "You are to take care of the elders; clean their bedding, get them fresh-kill and pick off their ticks."

"He's only a kit," spoke Talonstrike lowly, letting his own amber stare reach Tigerclaw's. Tigerclaw glared heavily at the tom.

"I don't care, he needs to learn responsibility and to think before he runs off on an adventure." Tigerclaw responded with a slight sneer, "This doesn't concern you kittypet," Talonstrike seemed to fight down a growl and began to flex his claws as the fur along his spine slowly began to rise. Mossflower touched Talonstrikes flank with her tail, giving him a look that said 'It's not worth it.'Talonstrike begrudgingly stood down his claws sheathing themselves. He glared venomously at Tigerclaw but the other dark tabby had returned to gaze over Cloudkit.

"We'll are you going to just sit there or get moving?" Tigerclaw hissed at Cloudkit. Cloudkit glared back at the dark tabby deputy for a moment longer, before charging toward the tunnel with an angry huff. Brindleface chased after him looking distressed. Tigerclaw turned his stare on Scourgeclaw.

"I suggest you keep your kits in order," Tigerstar growled heavily as he glared at Scourgeclaw. Scourgeclaw kept his face neutral as his cold stare grew icier the longer he stared at Tigerclaw. Mossflower stepped forward and nudge Scourgeclaw gently on his shoulder.

"Come on Scourgeclaw, let's go check on Brackenpaw and your kits," she murmured softly in his ear. Scourgeclaw gave her a discrete nod to show he had heard her and followed her as she lead the way back into camp. Once they made their way through the tunnel, Scourgeclaw headed for the nursery, more than likely to check on Morningkit and Nightkit. Talonstrike followed quickly behind him. Mossflower started to follow him the paused deciding instead to go check on Brackenpaw, and Fireheart. She knew they had both been fighting the badger as well she wanted to check on their health. When she entered Yellowfang's den, she found Fireheart in there looking a little irate.

"What happened?" Asked Mossflower quietly. Fireheart glanced at her a moment than sighed

"Darkstripe and I got in an argument is all, nothing to worry about," he told her gently. "Cloudkit was in here not too long ago. He said something about needing to treat the elders' ticks?" Mossflower hissed in anger at the thought of CLoudkit's punishment.

"Tigerclaw has decided to punish Cloudkit by making him care for the elders," she wanted to claw the dark tabby's eyes clear out of his skull.

"I figured he had something to do with it," Fireheart hissed quietly, "Where's Scourgeclaw?"

"The nursery checking on Nightkit and Morningkit," she murmured softyly.

"I'm sure he wasn't thrilled with Tigerclaw's punishment either?" Mossflower snorted,

"What do you think?" Fireheart gave a tired shake of his head. "I think I'll go and check on Cloudkit for him." Mossflower purred softly in agreement.

"Yes do that, I'm sure Cloudkit wouldn't mind your help." Fireheart nodded and charged out of the medicine den. Mossflower turned her attention to Brackenpaw.

"Are you okay Brackenpaw?" Mossflower asked softly looking over his wounds. Brackenpaw nodded gently from his spot in his nest.

"Yes I'm fine, it wasn't too bad," Yellowfang snorted

"If he and struck any harder you'd be sharing the den with Cinderpaw." Yellowfang retorted. Mossflower rolled her eyes in response.

"But he's okay right?"

"Of course he is, does he look like he's dying of anything other than boredom?" Yellowfang retorted with a flick of her tail. Mossflower held her paw and lowered her head as a sign of surrender before turning her attention back to Brackenpaw.

"I'll let Frostfur know you're alright," she purred softly. Brackenpaw thanked her and lied down getting comfortable in his nest.

Mossflower started to head back to the nursery, but decided that since Scourgeclaw, Talonstrike and Brindleface were more than likely in there that she could use a quick stretch of her legs. She headed out the tunnel and briskly went for a quick hunt.

She had caught a two mice and was on her way back to camp when she spotted the fiery pelt of Fireheart. She briefly wondered what he was doing away from camp. She headed over in his direction.

"Hey Fireheart," she hissed around her prey, Fireheart stiffened for a fraction of a second before he relaxed. HE whipped around to face her.

"What are you doing out here?" he hissed quietly, quickly glancing back behind him.

"I could as you the same thing I thought you were helping Cloudkit?" she asked his suspiciously. Fireheart nodded slowly

"I was but I-I" Fireheart hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"I was following Tigerclaw," Mossflower blinked slowly,

"You were following Tigerclaw?" she echoed.

"Yes I'm glad I caught that mouse, or he would have caught me for sure." Mossflower looked at him in alarm.

"What do you mean?" she asked at first her eyes widening in disbelief. "Why were you following him?"

"Yes he was acting suspicious," Fireheart murmured softly. "I wanted to see where he was going." Mossflower fought not to roll her eyes.

"Okay well did you find out anything?"

"Well he head for the twolegplace and I don't know exactly what happened, because I stopped to hunt, but when I caught up with him I actually ran into him." Fireheart meowed with a swish of his tail.

"He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was hunting so he wouldn't think I was following him." 'You were following him,' Mossflower thought to herself, " He didn't believe me at first, until I showed him the mouse I had caught. " Mossflower looked around

"Where is your mouse?"

"Tigerclaw took it back to camp, anyway I continued following Tigerclaw's scent and I caught the scent of some rogues." Mossflower stiffened.

"How many?"

"I'm not sure, really" Fireheart admitted but I definitely scented Tigerclaw with their scent."

"What exactly do you think he's been doing?" Fireheart shrugged.

"I don't know really." Mossflower sighed a little in exasperation.

"Did Tigerclaw mention the rogues at all when he ran into you?" she asked patiently.

"No he didn't say anything, that's why I was surprised to catch his scent among theirs. Mossflower sighed gently.

"I swear the two of you and Tigerclaw will probably be the death of me one day." Mossflower grumbled a little. Fireheart's ears pricked up in surprise.

"What do you mean by that? I'm the only one looking in on Tigerclaw, Graystripe hasn't been helping me."

"I meant you and Scourgeclaw," Fireheart still seemed confused.

"I don't understand though, Scourgeclaw hasn't been doing anything either…wait has Scourgeclaw been spying on Tigerclaw?" Fireheart asked suspiciously.

"No…at least not recently…I would hope not." Mossflower sighed, as she thought back to several of their conversations with Scorugeclaw regarding Tigerclaw.

"But why? What reason does Scourgeclaw have to be suspicious?" asked Fireheart, quietly looking around a little. "Why did he believe me when I told him about Ravenpaw? Why did Bluestar accuse Scourgeclaw of putting me up to finding the truth about Tigerclaw?" Mossflower looked at him in surprise after that.

"What do you mean?" she asked nonchalantly

"Why did he readily believe me about Ravenpaw?" Fireheart asked confused by her question. Mossflower shook her head quickly.

"No, I mean what did you mean about Bluestar?" Fireheart shifted on his paws nervously but spoke up quietly.

"I told Bluestar about Ravenpaw, the night of the gathering when Bluestar announced that WindClan should be found, she seemed to accept that he was gone. But when I tried to explain why he left, she accused Scourgeclaw of putting me up to speaking ill about Tigerclaw. She refused to even consider what I had told her and dismissed it as Ravenpaw being confused." Fireheart paused and seemed to gather his thoughts almost as if he was trying to judge whether to tell Mossflower all that he had discovered recently. " I didn't think Ravenpaw was confused but I had to confirm his story, so that night at the gathering when we snuck away, We went to see Ravenpaw, we confirmed his story and retold it the exact way I remember overhearing it."

"So that's what happened," Mossflower meowed shaking her head and giving a disapproving look.

"Yes, I admit we shouldn't have eaten those mice that Ravenpaw and Barley offered us, but at the time…" Fireheart looked sheepish, and a little guilty. "I did feel bad though, and felt that spending the day hunting was a fitting punishment."

"Well as long as you feel some remorse." Mossflower meowed softly.

"Anyway, I knew it wasn't enough since Ravenpaw's story hadn't been enough to convince Bluestar the first time. There was also something strange about the story." Mossflower's blinked quickly in surprise.

"Strange how?"

"Ravenpaw mentioned that during the battle Redtail had tried to attack a RiverClan warrior named Stornefur, but Oakheart had stopped him and had declared that no ThunderClan cat was to harm him." 'Stonefur? That Stonerfur?' Mossflower thought about the RiverClan tom she had met. 'Why would he say that?'

"Why would he say something like that?" she asked curiously. Fireheart started to look even more nervous, and seemed to question whether he should speak or not. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you but you can't tell anyone else about this."Fireheart meowed with a serious stare. "It is that important no one is allowed to know.

"I promise to keep it a secret, but tell me what's wrong?" she meowed anxiously, she was a little too shocked about what Fireheart had been up to recently but she was determined to find out what was going on.

"Graystripe and I snuck into RiverClan territory to speak to a RiverClan warrior." Mossflower's jaw dropped in shock

"Are you out of your mind?" she hissed furiously at him. "What would possess you to do something so foolish?"

"Graystripe has being seeing the RiverClan warrior Silverstream." Fireheart murmured. Mossflower's eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you mean…" she trailed off her eyes widening. "You mean they're mates?" Fireheart nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah he's been sneaking off to see her all the time, that's why we were fighting a while ago." Fireheart explained briefly. "But anyway Silverstream agreed to help us and brought her friend Mistyfoot to talk to us."

"This just gets better and better." Mossflower grumbled sarcastically. "Let me guess she's been covering for Silverstream?"

"Maybe not as much as she would need to be, since Mistyfoot is a queen with kits of her own that she's caring for." Mossflower nodded her head in understanding. "Mistyfoot as it turns out is Stonefur's sister and both of them were present for that battle. Mistyfoot had no idea why Oakheart said he did about Stonefur to Redtail, but she was able to confirm that Oakheart died from a rock fall and not Tigerclaw."

"Wait so Oakheart was killed by a rock slide?" she asked surprised, Fireheart nodded in response. 'That can only mean that Tigerclaw killed Redtail' she thought grimly.

"Yes, and it gets stranger from there, Mistyfoot told me that there was one other cat who might know why Oakheart had said what he did." Fireheart spoke carefully, "She told me the cat was her mother Graypool, and we set a way for us to meet. I met with her and she told me that Mistyfoot and Stonefur were ThunderClan kits that Oakheart had found and had brought to RiverClan." Mossflower stiffened and once again was suffering from a bout of shock, and confusion.

"He found them?" she asked with wistful stare. Fireheart nodded,

"Yes she said that it had be a cold leaf-bare and Oakheart had said that he had found them. She said that she could recognize the ThunderClan scent on their fur…Mossflower what's wrong?" Fireheart asked with a worried expression. Mossflower was trembling and staring ahead blankly. Fireheart began to nudge her repeatedly and meowed anxiously in her ears, until her eyes once more looked lucid. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"I-I'm not sure," Mossflower whispered softly. "Did you tell Bluestar this?"

"Yes, Bluestar wasn't happy at all, she was furious when I told her what Graypool had said, though I didn't tell her Mistyfoot and Stonefur's names."

"That's because she already knows their names." Fireheart looked up in surprise.

"How do you know that?"

"Because they're my littermates."

Okay I know it's been awhile since I updated last I'm working on getting these up sooner.

So yeah now Mossflower knows that her littermates are in fact alive though you've probably noticed that I didn't confirm that Oakheart is their father so she still has to find out that little piece of information.

Okay so review, review, review!


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